Options
by ardavenport
Summary: Qui-Gon options for a marriage. Obi-Wan is upset.
1. Chapter 1

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 1**

Mayb Oeschus Arimba took her seat at the table. She looked carefully at this new suitor who sat across from her in the plain, white interview room. She lazily leaned forward over the table between them. He did not react. She sat back, all business again.

"So, you wish to purchase on option on a marriage contract?"

"Yes," he answered. He had a pleasant voice and a mild expression. He was also a bit older than Mayb would have preferred, but not completely out of her range.

"And. . . .you're a Jedi Knight?"

"Yes. A Jedi Master actually."

Mayb blinked. "Is that better than a Jedi Knight?"

"Not precisely better. But in terms of experience and rank, I suppose you could say that."

Mayb wondered what experience had anything to do with being better. From the looks of this suitor, 'experience' only meant 'older'. She openly looked him over. Annoyingly, he did not seem to mind. Mayb expected people to be a little nervous when she eyed at them critically.

He had pale, tan skin and long brown hair, fading in places. He had facial hair, on his chin and under his nose, that looked scratchy. Obviously, he just let it grow there on its own with no modifications. He was incredibly plainly dressed. Tall, dark brown work boots, worn brown pants, dusty-white shirt and long scarves over his shoulders and tied around his waist. The belt and pouches over that did not match his boots. On top of all that was a coarse brown, hooded robe that now hung off the back of the chair he sat in.

She supposed this his clothes were 'comfortable', but fashion had nothing to do with that outfit. Nor was the way his hair was tied back in a simple tail on the back of his head. Sadly, one reason why people sought marriage contracts was because they were incapable of attracting a suitable partner on their own. He had the look of a socially inept scholar, but Mayb did not allow any trace of disdain to show.

He was older, much older than she was; late middle years for a Human. At least he looked Human like she was. Mayb glanced down at the application summary on the little screen of the data link before her.

Name: Qui-Gon Jinn

Species: Human

Profession: Jedi. . . .

While there was the usual descriptive information along with a general declaration of good health, there were quite of lot of things missing. Most notably, 'none' was listed for property owned and there was no income listed other than a 'fixed stipend', whatever that meant.

_How can this man afford a wife?_

At the bottom of the application was a cleared and approved credit deposit, in full, for the option to negotiate a marriage contract with her. An addendum included the proposed marriage contract itself, should she accept. She looked back up at him, and his simple and extremely plain clothes. Though he was bearded, with long, un-styled hair, it was at least tidy. She would have ended the interview immediately if he had unkempt hair.

_He has to get his money from somewhere. And Jedi are supposed to be honest, so it can't be anything too shady._

She absolutely discounted the idea that he owned no property at all. It was simply impossible for anyone to own nothing unless they were some kind of drooling fanatic, and Qui-Gon Jinn was obviously not that. He must have misunderstood the question, probably thinking it only referred to a certain type of property like planetary land or a business. But this implied that whatever holdings he had were poorly managed if he had trouble listing them on a simple application. Mayb supposed that she would take over those duties in a marriage. That was common, for one partner to fill in the deficiencies of the other, and this man appeared to have plenty of those.

Mayb knew very little about Jedi. They showed up on the holo-news sometimes and they were a footnote in a Republic civics class that she had taken years ago. They were trained as fighters, or negotiators, or peacekeepers, or other things that Senates and politicians liked.

They obviously had no training in fashion or real diplomacy, judging from the coarse clothes that hung off of Qui-Gon Jinn's broad shoulders. While he appeared to be neat and properly washed, his clothes were clearly what he wore every day. He had obviously done nothing at all to make himself more attractive for her. He had a pretty poor presentation for someone shopping for a marriage.

She sighed and began, starting with the simplest question that might discourage him.

"I have to be blunt about this at the beginning, but aren't all Jedi eunuchs?"

His eyes widened. It was so easy to catch men by surprise by questioning their manhood, she thought. This man was apparently just as insecure about his manliness as the next one. Mayb was mostly sure that this particular rumor about Jedi was not true, but it had been handy for getting the upper hand with him.

"No. They are not. I assure you, I am quite intact," he stated. He did not look too upset, she noted, but his response was emphatic. She could demand his medical records later, anyway.

"I see. Well, then, I know this is going to sound like an extremely trivial question, but it really is _very_ important. _Really._ Why do you want a wife?" she asked, looking directly at his face. It was a challenge. She had no intention of sharing a marriage with anyone who did not know exactly what they wanted.

"I have seen your profile, and I wished to make inquiries about your status. For example, your position at this school."

Frowning, Mayb drew back.

"There is nothing wrong whatsoever with my position at this school -"

"I did not mean to imply -" he interrupted, gaining more of her displeasure by doing so.

"I certainly think not." She cut him off, putting him in his place again. "Dean Hawxol himself has sees how valuable this option for a _potential_ contract is. I am not some desperate case who cannot find a position for herself and has to have a open marriage hoping some somebody will save her from failure. I have had offers. But I admit, none that I found suitable. So far."

"That is unfortunate," he said. "Perhaps Dean Hawxol has not adequately represented your interests."

Mayb scowled, wondering what he had against her mentor. "Dean Hawxol has represented me to the best of his considerable abilities. You only have to look at how well he represents himself to know that." Again she eyed him, but he was too dim to notice the implied insult. Well, she thought, she had not really expected this to work out anyway. "But we've gotten off topic. Why do you want a wife?"

"Ah," he nodded to himself. "After looking at your profile, I felt that we had much in common." He lifted his hand. "And that we should explore the option for your contract. Regardless of the outcome, you will find this beneficial."

She stared back at him. He had wonderful eyes. They were a deep, dark blue. Very beautiful. Like his voice. Deep and resonant and clearly educated. And he had come to her, in person, to present himself. Even this inept presentation was better than an impersonal inquiry sent through a lawyer, as if her contract could be simply bought off planet like a luxury droid.

Mayb caught herself staring and lowered her eyes, determined not to give him the advantage of knowing that she. . . . _might_ want him. She sat back. He was big and broad in the chest, and she liked that. Keeping her features neutral, she thought about curling up in his lap.

_I __must__ try this._

She looked directly at him.

"I accept, Qui-Gon Jinn." She extended her hand to him over the table between them. He accepted it and her much smaller hand all but disappeared between his large, strong ones. She looked into his eyes again and completely forgot to mind her expression.

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

Obi-Wan Kenobi leapt to his feet as soon the door to the interview chamber opened. He felt positive horror when he saw the besotted look on the poor girl's face. She was clinging to his Master's arm as she gazed up at him. Even more horrifying was Qui-Gon's apparent benign amusement.

Dean Hawxol hastily stood as well. He came from around his polished desk.

"Mayb Oeschus, my dear, you have. . . .made a decision?" His voice quavered, clearly not wanting to hear what was obvious.

"Oh, yes," Mayb breathed, settling herself more comfortably on Qui-Gon's arm, her golden curls cascading down on Qui-Gon's robe. Disheartened, Obi-Wan remained silent.

"I believe we have an agreement," the Jedi Master announced. "After Mayb signs the contract, we shall be on our way."

"After I got my things," the young woman finished. Obi-Wan noticed the brief look of surprise on Qui-Gon's face as his new fiancé slipped off of his arm. She smoothly floated to the Dean's desk and with a flourish tapped in a personal code and leaned over for the ID scan for the embedded reader on the desk.

Not one golden curl on her head was out of place. She was about Obi-Wan's age, early twenties, with long, thick golden hair and darker, flawless golden skin. Her sleeveless teal tunic flowed down over her curvy body while her white pants clung tightly over her long legs. The gold jewelry decorating her neck, wrists and waist matched her hair which she tossed back as she posed and bestowed a stunning smile to Qui-Gon. Her blue-green eyes looked a little dilated. Her teeth were bright white even squares, perfect for a Humanoid. She changed to a new pose, leaning against the desk and adjusting the drape of her tunic over her shapely bust. Obi-Wan's heart cringed, torn between pure embarrassment and outrage over what his Master was doing.

"Perhaps you should get your things now," Qui-Gon prompted. She started and then agreed, hurrying past them to the outer office. As she brushed past Qui-Gon, she suddenly grabbed him.

"Qui-Gon Jinn," she said as she reached up and pulled his head down to kiss him.

Obi-Wan now sensed his Master's surprise through the Force. He allowed it, but he did not return her kiss. She did not seem to notice as she released him, whirled about and was gone.

Qui-Gon did not meet Obi-wan's intense glare as he finally turned back to the schoolmaster. Dean Hawxol looked unwell. He was as smartly dressed as Mayb, with styled lacquered hair and a dark, dusty orange tailored suit with a fine trim of tiny, glittering beads. But his rich brown complexion had visibly paled. Obi-Wan sensed real fear in him, and this momentarily distracted him from his Master's apparent temporary insanity. Hawxol was not afraid of Qui-Gon, but he feared for his life. He desperately wanted to stop Qui-Gon from taking Mayb Oeschus Arimba with him, but he was too intimidated to do anything about it.

Obi-Wan curiously looked toward Qui-Gon, who clearly sensed Hawxol's fear as well. The older Jedi calmly stared down the school master as he announced that they would wait outside in the garden until Mayb was ready to leave.

Obi-Wan did not speak until they were well away from the building, amidst the flowering, sculpted bushes of the academy grounds.

"Qui-Gon -" Obi-Wan began. Qui-Gon held up a restraining hand and his apprentice fell silent.

"I realize that my actions were irregular -"

"Irregular?!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "You optioned for a marriage contract with her! Legally, she's your fiancé for the next twenty-four days!" He stepped forward, blocking Qui-Gon's way. They stood alone together between tall, well-tended hedges. Qui-Gon frowned down at him.

"I understand your concern -"

"It's not concern. This is completely unorthodox, aside from violating the Code, you influenced her into doing this. Did you think I couldn't sense it?"

Qui-Gon glared down at him, his dark blue eyes had gone cold. Obi-Wan fell silent, but he did not back down.

"I am not attempting to conceal anything from you, Padawan." His tone conveyed his displeasure. "If you will pause long enough in this display of yours to listen, I will be happy to explain my actions to you."

This time Obi-Wan did lower his eyes. He knew he had made a terrible accusation that was not true. Qui-Gon had concealed nothing.

"When we found Yinis and Binokas' records on Ipasso Station they contained the profiles of several of this Academy's students, Including Mayb Oeshus Arimba. Her name, however, was the only one that was flagged with another name." Obi-Wan nodded. It had been 'Edoma', and they had only presumed that it was a name. It could have just as easily been a place, a moon, or even a song or flavor. "When we inquired about their students here, Dean Hawxol specifically mentioned that Mayb had failed all her trial apprenticeships. He was quite disparaging of her intelligence."

Obi-Wan well remembered that moment, for immediately after that was when Qui-Gon had suggested purchasing the available option on the girl's marriage contract himself, one future career still available to her through the Academy.

"Hawxol's assessment did not match Yinis and Binoka's records, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan frowned. When they had found the records of the two slain slave liberators, PohPoh Yinis and Al Binoka, there had been so much material that they had split it up between them. Obi-Wan had concentrated on the places where Yinis and Binoka had been; Qui-Gon had focused on the places where they thought they were going to. When they had compared notes, the trail and their intuition had led them to make inquiries at the Academy. Three people who had been trained there had later been freed by the two dead crusaders.

"What could that mean?" Obi-Wan asked, frowning.

"I believe that Mayb was in imminent danger of being sold into slavery, most likely through a falsified option, or the marriage contract itself, to the buyer. And that Dean Hawxol is involved."

"But if she is in danger, we should contact the authorities, have her put in protective custody," Obi-Wan told him.

"Hawxol could easily have had her removed, long before we could return with the authorities. He was quite uneasy when we expressed any interest in the girl. And she expressed total trust in him during our interview; she would not have accepted that he would deceive her."

Obi-Wan had to admit that this was true. Hawxol's near terror at the prospect of them taking Mayb away with them certainly hinted at something. But he could have simply been alarmed and repulsed at seeing a Jedi speculating for a marriage.

"I agree, Master, that Hawxol's behavior was suspicious, but that and a few inaccuracies in the girl's records is hardly proof."

Qui-Gon shook his head. "According to Yinis and Binoka, five of Mayb's potential employers inquired after her and were told that she had accepted another position. That cannot be explained as a simple error in record-keeping. It was done deliberately, to keep her heard so that she would be available for the contract."

Reluctantly, Obi-Wan had to agree. This felt right and matched Hawxol's behavior. But Qui-Gon's actions still did not match their situation.

"Master should you be countering Hawxol's deception with your own? The girl thinks you want to marry her."

Qui-Gon's dark blue eyes coolly stared down at him.

"It was a necessary deception. It was the fastest and surest means of separating her from Hawxol and imminent danger." Obi-Wan detected no sympathy in his Master's explanation. "And we will continue with it until her safety is assured."

"It can't be necessary to manipulate her this way," Obi-Wan insisted.

"I would hardly call it manipulation."

"She's in love with you!"

Qui-Gon looked a little surprised by this. "I am strong in the Force, Obi-Wan, but I assure you, I am not that strong. It is merely an infatuation."

"Whatever you call it, you over did it."

"I merely suggested to her that she might find this excursion beneficial. The infatuation was entirely her own idea, I assure you."

"You can't let it continue, Qui-Gon! We at least have to tell her that she might be in danger!"

Qui-Gon's patience seemed to run out all at once, his expression turning severe. Obi-Wan instantly regretted raising his voice.

"We will continue with this as long as necessary, Padawan. Furthermore, you will not say _anything_ about this or our mission to Mayb unless I am present. Is that clear?"

Obi-Wan glared back for only a moment before lowering his eyes and looking to the side.

"Yes, Master," he acknowledged quietly.

Qui-Gon remained standing over him before finally speaking. "Very well. We shall return to the main office and we will be taking Mayb with us." Qui-Gon's shadow left him and the edge of his robe brushed past Obi-Wan's legs as he left. Obi-Wan turned and looked after his Master, charging back between the hedges toward the school buildings. Then he followed Qui-Gon.

**- - - End Part 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 2**

Qui-Gon noticed the droid watching them as he was giving the waiter his order for dinner. Mayb immediately asked for the same thing he was having. Obi-Wan had something different.

If the droid was trying to conceal itself, then it clearly was not programmed for it. It had positioned itself across the walkway from the open-air tables of the restaurant they sat at and it kept swivelling and extending it's head to peer around the passersby; the constant motion made it easy to spot. It was also painted rather obviously in the Yube Krim Academy colors of light blue and reddish-purple. Qui-Gon presumed that Dean Hawxol had not had time to get anyone competent to follow them.

Mayb talked about the types of food she liked.

"I know julaberries are popular but the purple ones are a bit sweet. Do you prefer the red, purple or mauve ones?"

"I do not have a preference. But I believe that Obi-Wan prefers the pink ones."

Obi-Wan glanced up from his sulk long enough for Qui-Gon to catch his attention with a quick glance, head twitch and a lifted finger.

"Pink? I've never heard of pink ones before. You're making that up," Mayb replied teasingly.

"They have them on Coruscant," Qui-Gon reassured her. "Apparently they are quite popular, especially as garnishes for desserts. I've heard that they come in a pale orange variety as well."

Obi-Wan's eyes widened only briefly. He lowered his head and tapped his nose, indicating that he had seen the droid as well, but he said nothing, nor did he offer any comment about what other types of julaberries he liked.

"Oh, I suppose I will find out about that when we get there. When will that be?" Mayb inquired, her blue-green eyes wide. Qui-Gon suppressed a sigh. He had already told her that they were finishing their mission. Twice. But Mayb had her own desires about where she would like to go. Coruscant was only one destination that she had hinted about.

"After our mission is complete," he answered. Hopefully long before then they could deliver Mayb Oeschus Arimba to safety. But Hawxol's apparent attempt to follow them was a new problem. How important was Mayb to him? Would the droid be followed by a more professional pursuer?

"Oh, I'm sure you will find time to take a break from all that. Searching the whole galaxy for only two people must be tedious and they might turn up on their own anyway."

Qui-Gon supposed this might be one way of looking at it, since PohPoh Yinis and Al Binoka were already dead. The search for the two had been their original mission, but it served now as a convenient deception, disguising their real purpose. The discovery of their deaths was known only to a very few people. Now they sought the slavers who had been kidnaping Republic citizens for profit, and presumably they had killed Yinis and Binoka as well.

Mayb lowered her eyes. "I don't want you to think I'm poorly educated or. . . .backward, but," she lifted her eyes to him. "I've never actually been to Coruscant before," she sighed.

"I _know_ all the protocols, of course," Mayb went on. "I interned at the Grand Elphine as a celebration interviewer on Tut'Lu, which is only a sector capital, I know, but you have to admit that it _is_ similar to Coruscant. It certainly has a lot of embassies. But the position I was interning for wasn't really for me. It's amazing how many people think they have talent. It was so difficult to keep myself in from laughing at them sometimes. . . ."

Qui-Gon raised a hand and pointed at the waiter-droid, arriving with their appetizers. Mayb paused long enough for them to be served and went on about her time on Tut'Lu.

"I have been to the Aftes before; Mount Tut'Sent is quite impressive," he commented when Mayb stopped to sample a bit of salad.

"Oh." Mayb swallowed the dainty morsel she was chewing. "That huge purple peak over Tut'Lu that the people there practically worship? That's so high I heard it sticks out of the atmosphere. Why would you go up there? Unless you were on one of those luxury liners that dock at the peak?" Mayb looked hopeful.

"Well I was on one of those. But most of that mission was spent on the lower slopes." Opposite Mayb, Obi-Wan's interest shifted from his covert observation of the droid to their conversation. Obi-Wan had never been to the Aftes before. Qui-Gon had been there on a mission before Obi-Wan was his apprentice. If fact, before Obi-Wan had been born.

Qui-Gon described his mission as an intermediary between the tribes on the great mountain while they finished the first part of the meal. Mayb lost interest as soon as she found out that the tribal nightclubs there only used recorded music. Obi-Wan looked inquisitive, but he only pressed his lips together over an unasked question. He was not ready to speak yet while he sullenly watched Mayb eat.

Mayb politely listened until the main dinner came. Then she changed the subject.

"So, we're going to go on from here to this rocky moon circling around Ayma to look for these people you want?" she asked.

"Yes," Qui-Gon nodded, pleased that she had finally accepted that.

Mayb turned toward Obi-Wan. Her chin resting on her hands, she innocently asked. "And what will you be doing while we go there?"

Obi-Wan's gray-blue eyes widened in surprise. Then he glanced toward Qui-Gon; his fearful expression made him look a bit younger.

"We will all be going together," Qui-Gon explained, a little amused by his Padawan's reaction.

Mayb's aqua eyes narrowed toward him in displeasure. Then she quickly smoothed her features.

"Well," she said, smiling at both of them. "We''ll just have to make the best of it."

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

"We were followed by a droid presumably sent by Dean Hawxol. . . ." Qui-Gon spoke into the holo-recorder at the com station behind the pilot seats of their ship. As simply as possible, Qui-Gon had already described his situation with Mayb's marriage contract option. He requested Jedi assistance to take Mayb to a safe place while they continued with the mission. If the head of Mayb's academy could be part of a plot to sell her into slavery, then all of the local authorities could be suspect since Hawxol was also a deputy mayor of the nearest town.

Qui-Gon finished his report. They would continue back-tracking to the places that Yinis and Binoka had been.

"R4," Qui-Gon said when the recorder shut down. R4-2B's turned its single lens eye toward him.

Qui-Gon paused. He had followed his instincts. But as they had so many times in the past, his instincts conflicted with others. Obi-Wan's outrage was only a preview of the response he might get back from the Jedi Temple. While Qui-Gon would not tolerate his Padawan's disrespect, he had to agree with him that a Jedi taking an option on a marriage contract was . . . . outrageous.

"Send the message," he instructed. The droid beeped its acknowledgment. The Temple's reaction would be what it would be. Qui-Gon thought that it would most likely be withheld until the end of their mission, though he doubted it would be favorable.

Qui-Gon turned toward the rear air lock. Obi-Wan and Mayb were still waiting outside.

Mayb strutted up the ramp as soon as it was down. Obi-Wan followed with a large case under each arm. There were still three more by the ramp.

Mayb looked about the ship's single cabin. Her expression increasingly unhappy as she looked from the two narrow bunks along the bulkheads, the storage lockers, the door to the rear fresher and then forward past Qui-Gon.

"You only have a maintenance droid?" she complained toward R4-2B. "Why didn't you say something? I could have brought something from the school."

Quite glad that he had not even thought of mentioning the ship's droid, Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows. He had used another mind influence on Mayb to convince her to take only five of the cases that she had planned on bringing. Behind Mayb, Obi-Wan lowered his load to the deck and gave him a cross look before turning around and going back down the ramp for the rest of Mayb's things.

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

Mayb stared upward at the gray metal curve of Qui-Gon's tiny ship. The cabin illumination had been turned down, but there were always panels or little lights flashing, plus the shifting hyperspace glow from the forward ports.

It was time to admit the truth, she told herself firmly. It was now stunningly obvious why Qui-Gon Jinn needed to purchase an option for a marriage contract.

Qui-Gon Jinn was an eccentric. And he could not possibly attract a suitable mate on his own.

She briefly wondered how she could have so badly misread him before she discarded that idea. Her instincts simply were not that bad. There had to be some positives that she was forgetting. Mayb mentally went over them.

Qui-Gon had a good physique, even if he did not know how to dress himself. She could certainly teach him a few things about what to wear. He was more distinguished than handsome, but that was mostly because he was older. His eyes were still that stunningly beautiful shade of blue, and distracting. Once she got past those, Mayb had to concede that his nose was bit large and crooked. She did not know why it was that way, bulging unevenly a bit just under his eyes; she would have to do something about that along with getting him into better clothes. Mayb preferred facial symmetry.

He had some resources. His credits cleared the contract option immediately. And he had his own ship, small as it was. She would have to convince him to trade it in for something more spacious. And he lived on Coruscant. Anyone who lived there and could afford to travel off planet as much as he did _had_ to be well situated. Apparently, Jedi were well connected politically to the Galactic Senate as well.

Mayb felt a little better about her choice after mulling the positives over, plus it was only a contract option. Even if Qui-Gon turned out to be completely unacceptable, she was legally bound to him only until it expired and then she could just take the fee and walk away from it. But there was no doubt that the engagement had started off badly.

She turned her head toward the bunk along the opposite wall of the cabin and its occupant. The name of that bad start was _Obi-Wan_.

As politely as possible, she had hinted to Qui-Gon that things would go much better between them without his apprentice tagging along, but the suggestion had gone through him like light through a crystal. Qui-Gon was obviously dense about quite a few things.

_Like this mission he's on. Looking for people. I thought that Jedi did more interesting things than that._

He was clearly one of those people who simply did not know how to separate his work from his personal life, which appeared to be minimal. At the moment, he was forward, hunched in the pilot's seat, brooding over his mission. It hardly seemed like such a huge commitment to Mayb, but he was treating it like a whole planet depended on it. Closing her eyes, Mayb decided that she was just going to have to work on that. And his clothes. And his hair. And his nose.

**- - - End Part 2**


	3. Chapter 3

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 3**

Thwack!!

The hair brush missed Qui-Gon's hastily retracted hand and hit hard on the top of Mayb's dressing stand. He actually looked surprised.

"We shall wait," he wisely agreed. He withdrew back to where Obi-Wan stood. Satisfied, Mayb continued brushing her hair. If those two could spend all that time just sitting on the floor doing nothing then they could afford to wait for her to get ready.

Mayb had already washed and primped in the ship's tiny fresher. Now she needed to style her hair, then accent her face, neck, shoulders and hands before putting the rest of her clothes on. She decided on minimal tousled hair and facial accents and color smoothing that matched the outfit she had laid out. Aside from the total lack of a personal grooming droid, Mayb was also missing several other things that Qui-Gon had somehow convinced her to leave behind, but she would work around that.

By the airlock, Qui-Gon whispered something inaudible to Obi-Wan, who had a sour look on his face as he watched her. Mayb looked the other way as she carefully rubbed lotion into her cheeks and chin. She applied styling spray and facial accents slowly and carefully. Qui-Gon would just have to learn patience. If he had to do something, he could work on his navigational skills, which had to be pretty poor since it had taken them all night to get to this moon. But he had at least timed the arrival for local morning.

Finally satisfied with hair, face and hands, she pulled on her long blue dress, muted white long vest and matching short boots. Mayb sadly looked down at her only accessory case and settled for a blue, star-glitter scarf to tie over her hips. She was resourceful and could make do, but she again wondered what she could have been thinking to let Qui-Gon convince her to leave so many things behind. Especially considering what he wore! He and Obi-Wan had only one outfit each! Mayb had been appalled when they just ran everything through the ship's clothes fresher when they undressed before retiring. Mayb could not recall ever traveling with anyone so cheap.

Mayb stood, then tidied and arranged her clothes. Sauntering over to them, she ignored the exasperated look on Qui-Gon's face and hugged him. Obi-Wan silently watched them and activated the ramp exit. Wearing their dingy brown robes over their common, coarse clothes, they followed her down.

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

The open marketplace was full of shoppers. Most of them were the short stocky, horned humanoids native to Ayma's moon with a few multi-hued related species along with some tourists from the Granitis spaceport. Even at midday everything was shadowed by the gray vertical canyon cliffs high overhead and most of the rear stalls carved into the rock walls were artificially lit.

Obi-Wan followed close behind Mayb through the crowds. Though still displeased with Qui-Gon's rash actions, Obi-Wan would not let that interfere with his duty to protect the girl while his Master made inquiries about Yinis and Binoka's business in the city, Granitis.

Mayb flitted from shop-stall to shop-stall, always turning to him and asking the same question. "Do you think Qui-Gon would like this?"

She was determined the find a gift for Qui-Gon and was quite deaf to Obi-Wan's insistence that he did not want anything. That just hardened her resolve to find something.

Mayb smiled brightly and posed next to her latest choice. Obi-Wan looked up at the tall, gleaming light stand. It was too tall to stand up in the ship and lying down, it would just be something for them to trip over. Mayb shook her head and rolled her eyes when he told her so. Obi-Wan suggested lunch. She reluctantly agreed and they left the furniture shop.

They pushed their way through the crowds in the food plaza and Obi-Wan grabbed Mayb's hand to keep them from getting separated. Mayb's slender hand grasped his with a strong, firm grip and her perfectly manicured nails only lightly dug into his skin. She grinned back at him, tossed her hair and tugged him through the jostling pedestrians, most of whom were shorter than both of them.

"So, which one?"

Obi-Wan blankly stared down at her large aqua eyes. They were pressed together at the edge of the walkway, the shorter local inhabitants going around them. Her body was warm. So was his. The skin of her bare forearm, under his hand, was as soft and smooth as a selk pillow. Mayb smirked and leaned so close that he could feel her breasts pressed to him, even through his clothes.

"Where should we have lunch?" she asked, smiling and carefully enunciating each word over the low mumble of the other people around them.

"Oh." Obi-Wan pulled his head back. "Um. . . ." He looked up at the large central sign with blinking arrows pointing to the various cafes and bistros. He walked in the direction of one of them, adjusting and pulling his robe closed. Mayb came with him, but she did not cling to his arm as she did to Qui-Gon's. Obi-Wan felt queasy about noticing this.

They found a table in a covered area. Obi-Wan pretended to study the menu on the table terminal carefully while his thoughts furiously tried to catch up with what had just happened.

He felt nothing toward Mayb Oeschus Arimba. He was sure of that. But his body and hormones seemed to have taken a detour around that logical conclusion. The feel of the curves of her body pressed into his still lingered in his thoughts. And anticipation of what the rest of her would feel like against his own bare skin came to him like a craving for food. Compounding this was his increasing embarrassment over his loss of control. Something like this had not happened to him since he was seventeen.

They made their selections from the menu and Obi-Wan forced himself to not look away from Mayb, but not stare either. Yes, he admitted to himself, she was very beautiful, but he imagined his thoughts as water; clear, unemotional and very, very cold. Slowly, he felt some of his Jedi discipline returning, the beating of his heart became less loud and urgent in his ears.

"Now," she said after the service droid arrived with water and juice. "I'm so dim; I should have asked this hours ago. What things does already Qui-Gon have? We can just pick something that will go with one of those."

"Um, he doesn't have anything," he replied, now suddenly interested in Mayb's quest. He hoped that she would be less appealing to him if she was talking. "We're Jedi. We don't have anything."

"Ugh." Mayb took a sip from her drink. "Not you, too. If you didn't have anything, you'd be walking around here naked. I suppose you could pull that off," she said, her eyes appraising him. Obi-Wan sipped his own drink to cover his blush. "And I'll have to have a look at Qui-Gon sooner or later anyway, but we're not here for that now," Mayb went on, oblivious to his reaction.

Obi-Wan swallowed and did not answer. He knew he would have to talk to Qui-Gon about this. Obi-Wan did not look forward to it since his Master was already displeased about his objections over the marriage option. But his duty was to their mission and this surprise physical attraction could certainly interfere with it.

"What about that thing you're wearing?" Mayb asked, waving toward his crotch. Obi-Wan yanked his robe closed around him.

"Thing?" Obi-Wan asked, his voice unfortunately high pitched.

"Yes." She reached across the table and pulled his robe open. "_That_ thing." She pointed at his lightsaber.

"My lightsaber?" he asked, looking down to where it hung on his belt.

"Yes, that thing. Don't you need something to clean it with? Or maybe add some accents. They're so plain. Blue gemstones on the end would make it a lot more distinctive. And they would match Qui-Gon's eyes."

Shocked, Obi-Wan gaped back up at her.

"But nothing cheap," Mayb hastily added. "I know how to do things like that."

Obi-Wan did not think he could allow Mayb to buy jewels for Qui-Gon's lightsaber even as a bad joke. He declined for his Master. Mayb sighed and moved on with more gift suggestions. Her main criteria for a gift was something in a color that matched Qui-Gon's eye color, hair or skin tone. Mayb also seemed to be determined to 'get Qui-Gon out of those dreary browns.' Though the clothes she had proposed during their morning shopping tour would have been outrageous for a Jedi, Obi-Wan had to admit that she had a fair eye for fashion. Most of her choices had been in muted colors and conservative but flattering styles. But in the end Mayb herself had discarded the idea of buying Qui-Gon clothes because the fit could never be truly correct without a proper scan of his body, which they thankfully did not have.

Their food arrived and Mayb started reviewing the things that Obi-Wan had rejected and why. Obi-Wan ate silently and only answered her questions in as few words as possible. Yes, he realized, she was less appealing when she was talking.

Qui-Gon did not need or have room for more furniture.

Qui-Gon did not enjoy most holo-vids. Mayb shrewdly noted that Obi-Wan seemed to be familiar with some current titles and how would Qui-Gon know if he did not look at them, she asked. Obi-Wan shrugged and pointed out that even Jedi did not isolate themselves from Coruscant's ever present media.

Qui-Gon absolutely would not want to curl his hair and the Jedi Temple had droids for that kind fashion if he did anyway.

Qui-Gon was indifferent to droids and probably would not want one for personal use.

Qui-Gon would not wear a decorative and colorful tie in his hair. Or a fan. Or flowers, real or flimsiplast. Or a miniature flyer or fish of any variety.

Qui-Gon did like plants, but anything they got would be quarantined by Temple Maintenance as soon at they got it back to Coruscant.

Qui-Gon did not collect _anything_.

Qui-Gon did not care about antiques. And anything that could be legitimately called a 'Jedi' antique that was for sale could be confiscated by the Jedi Order under the Republic Antiquities Preservation Laws.

Qui-Gon did not have any complaints about the temperature of his room in the Jedi Temple, nor did he complain about the floor or any other surfaces inside it.

Despite the lengthening list of things that Qui-Gon would not want, Mayb seemed undeterred. In fact, she looked increasingly determined throughout their meal. By the time Obi-Wan paid their check Mayb declared that Qui-Gon must 'need' something and it was their duty to find it. Obi-Wan decided that he should just let Mayb find something, buy it and let Qui-Gon deal with it.

"Has he ever gotten you anything?" she asked.

"A gift? Uh, no."

"Oh, he _must_ have gotten you something. He said you've been his apprentice for years."

Obi-Wan thought for a moment. "Well, he gave me a rock once."

"As a present?" She sounded appalled.

"Yes. It was a special rock."

"We are NOT giving Qui-Gon a rock."

Obi-Wan wondered where the 'we' was in this shopping mission. They visited the cafe's fresher before diving back into it.

Obi-Wan and Mayb went to the stalls of fixtures appropriate to each one's anatomy. Obi-Wan did his business quickly. He felt unsettled. He was not looking forward to a whole afternoon of fruitless searching for a gift that his Master would not want. With Mayb. Obi-Wan felt nothing for her, but the pure pleasure of his body rubbing next to hers seemed to override discipline and rationality like a reflex. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and cleared his mind, pushing away the memory and a return of that reflex.

In her section of the fresher, Mayb kept talking from behind a screen.

"I know you think this is a waste of time," she said. "But _everyone_ likes presents. It makes them happy. You just have to find the right things. And just because Qui-Gon is peculiar about them does _not_ mean that he's some kind of exception. There aren't any. He's just picky. But I know what people like. I'm very good at that, and - - -"

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzztttttttttttTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!

Obi-Wan's lightsaber cut neatly through the seeker droid hovering by the ceiling as he flipped over a room divider into the fresher's main open area. The tip of his blade cut through the end of a droid controller as Obi-Wan landed in a crouch. Other patrons of the fresher squealed in horror behind him. A few by the door ran out.

A muscular being, pale eyes wide with shock, stared down the bright blue blade less than a finger width from his, her or its black chest plate. His blue-gray eyes locked on the intruder, the young Jedi slowly rose from his crouch.

Obi-Wan's pants slowly slid down his thighs to sag down over the tops of his tall boots.

Without breaking eye contact, one of the intruder's leathery gray cheeks twitched.

The intruder leaped back. Obi-Wan scored a hit on a leg, but that only got a howl of pain. Obi-Wan unhappily glared after the retreating figure pushing through people coming into the fresher. He had hoped that the wound would stop him. Obi-Wan did not care for dismembering persons who had not drawn a weapon on him and who were running away.

"Oh!" Mayb exclaimed

His saber still humming before him, Obi-Wan turned to look back at her. A few other people in the fresher hurried past him to the exit. Mayb tilted her head, apparently appraising the parts of him that his pants should have been covering up.

Obi-Wan blushed. He flicked his saber off before pulling his pants up and fastening them properly this time. Then he bent forward to pick up the broken and charred hemispheres of the seeker droid. Mayb approached and scrunched her face up at it.

"Was that person a pervert?" she asked.

**- - - End Part 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 4**

Qui-Gon arrived at the café, but turning around, he did not see Obi-Wan and Mayb amidst the thinning midday meal crowds.

He had learned little more than what they already knew when he received Obi-Wan's com. No one knew much about what Yinis and Binoka had been doing on this moon, though he strongly suspected that the court clerk he had spoken to was hiding something.

Qui-Gon slowly turned around again. He could easily see over the horned heads of most of the tourists and shoppers. He was reaching for his com when he spotted Obi-Wan and Mayb coming out of a shadowed shop-tent. They crossed the stone walkway. Qui-Gon walked toward them.

Mayb leaped forward and threw a long garland of flowers over his head. He bent forward with her weight as she attached herself to his neck. She squealed and kissed his cheek. His hands on her arms, he gently pulled her away and she leaned back to admire him.

"See, I told you it would match his eyes," she tossed back to Obi-Wan who was doing a poor job of hiding the glint of his amusement.

Qui-Gon looked down at the long lengths of flowers that hung down to his knees. They were large petaled, pale blue flowers strung with clusters of blooms of varying hues of deep blue and indigo with dark green leaves poking out among them. A few of them were bent and displaced from Mayb's hug. Not too sweet and vaguely similar to sapir tea, their fresh, delicate scent now surrounded him.

"Thank-you," he said.

"You are most welcome." Mayb smiled back and then glanced a little smugly at Obi-Wan.

"You were attacked?" Qui-Gon addressed his apprentice.

"Oh, it didn't go that far," Mayb said. "Obi-Wan just broke something and scared off a fresher peeker with that energy thing."

Qui-Gon assumed that 'energy thing' had to mean 'lightsaber'.

"Yes, Master. You were right about the possible danger," Obi-Wan said a little guiltily. He produced the broken halves of a seeker droid and handed them to him. It was a sophisticated, but fortunately unarmed model, not something sent hastily by a panicky school dean. "I injured the droid's owner, but I was unable to follow without leaving Mayb unprotected in case it was a ruse."

"And his pants fell down," Mayb blurted out.

Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows. Obi-Wan looked embarrassed.

"We were in the fresher," she explained.

Qui-Gon did not try to hide his amusement. He asked Obi-Wan to describe what had happened. The attacker had been an older and oversized Tukmos, or a related species, in black body armor, poorly concealed by a long gray cape. Whoever it was did not sound like a local, body armor not being in fashion on this moon, but there was plenty of multi-species traffic in the area, so it would not have attracted attention.

"I'm sorry, Master." Obi-Wan lowered his eyes. "There was a danger," he looked up again, his blue-gray eyes earnest. "I didn't take it seriously. I should have been more prepared."

Qui-Gon laid his hand on Obi-Wan shoulder. "You did well, my Padawan. I was not expecting an attack like this myself." He sighed and smiled. "And I gave you ample reason to question my guidance earlier." Sometimes all his apprentice needed was time to think over a situation and Qui-Gon regretted that he too often forgot that. Obi-Wan only half smiled in return; then his eyes looked toward Mayb with concern. She watched them both.

There wasn't much foot traffic around them, but Qui-Gon guided them all toward the side of the café, away from any onlookers.

"We have received a communication from the Jedi Temple." Mayb looked completely uninterested while Obi-Wan perked up.

"Two Jedi were dispatched to the Ob Krim Academy on Massko. They arrived just in time to stop an attempt on Dean Hawxol's life. They are pursuing that attackers."

Mayb crossed her arms before her. "Well, that just can't be so. It must have been a robber or something. Nobody's going to want to _kill_ Dean Hawxol. He doesn't do anything like that."

Obi-Wan grimaced up at him but remained silent. Of course, Qui-Gon acknowledged to himself, he had ordered Obi-Wan to say nothing. So, the task of telling Mayb Oeschus Arimba about the real reason why she was with them fell to him.

"I am sorry to inform you that my option on your marriage contract was merely a ruse to get you out of danger at the school. And I presume it is the same danger that led to the attack on Dean Hawxol," he said, his tone serious. He still held the two halves of the seeker droid in his hands for her to see.

"Oh." Mayb looked unimpressed. "So, you think someone, somewhere, for some strange reason is trying to kill me?"

Qui-Gon shook his head sadly. "No. To enslave you. The two people we were looking for, Yinis and Binoka, were freelance liberators. And our search for them led us to your school. And I believe now that Dean Hawxol was complicit with the activities of slave traders. And that you were their next target."

The skin between Mayb's thin eyebrows crinkled. "That's a bit un-real, don't you think? It sounds like a cheap holo-drama. Obi-Wan told me you didn't like those." Her small mouth puckered. "And what do you mean that you 'were' looking for those Yinis and Binoka'?

"They are unfortunately, dead- -"

"Then _why_ are you looking for them?"

"We are looking for their killers. We are simply using the pretense of searching for them to conceal our motives from whoever killed them."

"So, you're done with this now? Now that they're dead. You can pay a little more attention to me. Your fiancé?" she reminded him.

"I cannot honor the contract," Qui-Gon told her, a bit surprised by her reaction. Her determined aqua eyes looked up at him with annoyance. "My vows as a Jedi Knight forbid me from marrying anyone."

"Well, it's not like I haven't changed jobs before." She grinned playfully, reached out and began to pet the flowers on the garland still around Qui-Gon's neck. "You said you were 'sorry' that you optioned my marriage contract as a ruse. Maybe after this, you won't be." Her fingers move past the flowers to the fabric of his tunic.

He stared down at her, dumbfounded. Obi-Wan, looking equally surprised, watched. Qui-Gon took her wrist and gently held it away from him, but she moved her body closer and looked straight up at his face.

"I cannot marry you," he explained carefully. "The Jedi Code forbids it."

"Fine," she answered agreeably with false pleasantry. "You'll lose your deposit on the option. And there are triple penalties for withdrawing. I'll just take your money and go back to Massko." She stepped back, but he held on to her wrist, his grip firming.

"You cannot go back there. You are in danger," he told her sternly.

"From _who_?" She jerked her arm, but he did not release her.

Her expression had changed completely. Playful teasing had swiftly transformed into genuine hatred and it momentarily astonished Qui-Gon, but he did not let go.

"I have other options. If _you're_ not serious about this." Her voice had turned loud and hard and accusing. "I don't just have a marriage contract on file all the time as if I'm on the market. I have had another offer. If you really don't think you can handle this, you can just cancel, pay your penalties and I'll re-open the negotiation with him," she finished proudly.

"Who?" Qui-Gon asked, his instinct suddenly stirred.

"Mak Edoma," she said smugly. "I admit that he's a bit plain. _You_ certainly wouldn't have had a chance if he weren't. And the coms from his lawyer proved that he was _very_ well situated. And Dean Hawxol assured me that he was _quite_ interested."

Obi-Wan's mouth was open, his eyes going from her to him. Mayb looked quite satisfied by their reactions. Qui-Gon released her wrist and he bowed his head to her.

"I see that I have underestimated you. I beg forgiveness," he said formally. Suddenly Mayb Oeschus Arimba had become their best source of information, whether she knew it or not.

The apology satisfied her. Her anger gone as quickly as it had materialized, she smiled, moved toward him and put her arms around his waist, under his robe. Obi-Wan tilted his head, worriedly peering toward the exact spot where Mayb's hand was fondling his buttocks.

"There," she said, her head resting against his chest. She sniffed a fragrant indigo bloom. "I forgive you."

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

Obi-Wan kept his nose to the ship's computer screen, quickly scanning the data that they had been able to collect about Mak Edoma on Ayma's moon. They were back in hyperspace, heading toward Cucadu. It was a verdant core world that Mayb had heartily approved of. And Mak Edoma's estate was on its largest continent.

Next to him, R4-2B quietly beeped and clicked to itself, monitoring the ship. The text and holos flicked past Obi-Wan's eyes. He took in the information with little enthusiasm. Edoma was only a moderately wealthy financier with no significant political connections according to the information they had received from their data inquiry to the Jedi Temple. He seemed to enjoy doing a little bit of business in multiple fields; specialty droids, land renewal, nature tours, deep water tours, asteroid tours. Edoma's minor manufacturing activities mostly supported his service interests. All of it was very unremarkable and legal.

Only Edoma's name had been in Yinis and Binoka's files. They apparently had not tracked down who he was when they were killed. But he would have been a target of the two. One of their methods of attacking the slave trade was to identify legitimate business people, like Edom, and discourage them with threats of public revelation of their flirtation with the illegal trade. This tactic also made the two liberators ridiculously visible to any slave traders who would not be intimidated.

Qui-Gon returned to the pilot's seat. Obi-Wan did not move or look up as his Master passed behind him. Qui-Gon settled himself with a familiar sigh and a low hum of seat adjustment, though Obi-Wan felt that the silence in the cabin was loud with his own tension. Qui-Gon was clearly ignoring it; he had said that they would talk in the morning. Obi-Wan knew that he was expected to think carefully about what he said before then.

Obi-Wan had not talked to Qui-Gon yet about his physical attraction to Mayb. He had hoped that she would leave them alone for another extended session in the fresher, but apparently her beauty maintenance time was reserved for the morning. Obi-Wan had only gotten as far as telling Qui-Gon that he was disturbed by Mayb before she emerged again, cheerful and asking about where they were going next. Qui-Gon had frowned back at Obi-Wan over Mayb's blond curls while she played with the flowers still hanging around his neck.

Mayb was asleep on one of the bunks in the cable, but she had fallen asleep curled up in Qui-Gon's lap. As soon as they were in hyperspace, she had been all over Qui-Gon with caresses and little kisses, her perfect, shapely body pressing next to him. She had coyly suggested that Obi-Wan might be more comfortable in the ship's airlock so she could be alone with Qui-Gon. But his Master's mind influence had convinced her that she was more tired than she thought.

Obi-Wan rubbed his neck and stopped the data viewer. He wasn't seeing any of the information anymore. He was accomplishing nothing. He felt worn out from this mission, though they had done nothing dangerous or strenuous or difficult. In the pilot's seat, Qui-Gon was already asleep. For a fleeting moment he considered waking him up, he wanted to speak so badly. But too often in the past, his Master had counseled patience and this had been the right course in the end. He did need to think. And he did not wish to whisper his problem to Qui-Gon, fearful of waking Mayb up with his secret.

Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon's discarded garland, now draped over R4-2B. Reaching out to one large indigo bloom, he felt its smooth, powder-soft petal between his calloused fingertips. So similar to Mayb's skin.

He got up from his seat, leaving his robe behind, draped over the backrest. Only removing his rear belt pouch and lightsaber, he stretched out on one of the bunks, his boots still on. He glanced toward the other bunk and then quickly looked away.

The Jedi Temple had answered their request for assistance, but the two Jedi who had been dispatched were off chasing whoever tried to kill Dean Hawxol. And nothing was said about Qui-Gon's marriage option with Mayb other than a curt order to keep them informed. Mayb would have to stay with them for protection. From slavers? From Edoma? They did not know.

Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan cleared his mind of the image of the besotted and sleepy look he had seen on Mayb's face as Qui-Gon stroked her temple. He had felt his Master's mind influence over her through the Force, quieting her amorous advances with a suggestion of sleep. Obi-Wan had stared blankly at his viewer then, not seeing anything on it and unable to get away from the sounds behind him. Frozen in his seat, unable to think, not daring to feel, he had let the tingle of Mayb's sleepy pleasure pass through him as his Master easily picked her up and carried her back to deposit her on a bunk.

Breathing deeply and quelling the tension in his neck and stomach, Obi-Wan cleared his mind again, hoping that this time it would work.

**- - - End Part 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 5**

_Obi-Wan is jealous. Horribly jealous._

Mayb had seen him watching her after Qui-Gon rudely got her up and pushed her into the fresher. Obi-Wan looked away when she glared back at him.

Physically, Obi-Wan was average. His best features were his age and he was fit and trim. His eyes were faded blue, his hair short and unremarkably brown and it stuck out from his head like a thick brush. She supposed that the long braid he wore on one side and the lock of hair sticking out from the back of his head were some form of Jedi fashion, but Mayb did not see anything special about it. Otherwise there was nothing distinctive about him. Mayb did not find him any more attractive than Qui-Gon might have.

It had occurred to her that there might be something more physical between the two of them than Obi-Wan's apprenticeship. But Mayb had scrutinized them carefully and decided not. Qui-Gon was nothing more than Obi-Wan's superior. But Obi-Wan was clearly unhappy about all the attention that his Master was giving her. Since he was just an apprentice then he would never be able to afford a contract option. His only choice would be to establish his own marriage contract for others to option. And Mayb was not interested.

Mayb applied cream to her shoulders and rubbed it in carefully. Her hygiene case was balanced on the edge of the basin of the fresher and she had to be careful not to tip it over with her elbow. There was hardly any room at all for her things in this tiny fresher. Qui-Gon definitely needed a bigger ship.

She dabbed a dot of cream on her cheek in the same place where Obi-Wan had an enormous mole. She appraised the effect carefully before smoothing and rubbing the white creams in. Obi-Wan obviously followed Qui-Gon's bad example of not doing anything to improve his appearance. Sadly, it seemed that he had acquired far too many of Qui-Gon's eccentricities.

When she finally finished tending to her beauty needs and exited the fresher Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were sitting on opposite bunks, their eyes closed, their legs crossed. They said it was meditating, but Mayb had never heard any good explanation of just what meditating was. It was supposed to be some special kind of thinking.

_What could be so special about thinking?_

Meditating looked a lot more like sleeping sitting up than thinking to her.

She walked around them, first to her travel cases to get fresh day clothes and then to set up her dressing stand. She deliberately brushed past Obi-Wan as she did so, and Mayb was sure she saw a twitch. At some point while she was brushing her hair, Qui-Gon got up and went back for his turn in the fresher. He stripped and put his things into the clothes fresher for a short cycle and took out a clean set of under clothes from a compartment. Obi-Wan just sat there with his eyes closed, pretending to ignore her.

Mayb was pleased to see that they both did have a change of underclothes. Mayb had been surprised to see how minimal their wardrobe was since neither of them suffered from noticeable body odor.

Also pleased with what she saw, Mayb carefully evaluated Qui-Gon before he disappeared into the fresher. He had broad, muscular shoulders and arms, and a mostly trim waist that Mayb would have expected to see on a male years younger than Qui-Gon's listed age. She fondly remembered the feel of those arms around her. If only she had not been so tired last night, she sighed.

She turned back to her mirror and caught Obi-Wan looking at her in the reflection.

_You are so jealous._

She made a face at him and concentrated on her hair. When Qui-Gon came out and Obi-Wan got up for his turn in the fresher, Mayb pointedly looked in the opposite direction when he took his clothes off.

Qui-Gon was also jealous, Mayb thought with satisfaction. _Horribly jealous._ He had not said anything about it; maybe he though she was stupid enough not to know that they were going to Mak Edoma's homeworld, to Port Zon near where he lived. Forward, Qui-Gon was doing something with the astromech. Then he sat down in the pilot's seat. They were getting ready to emerge from hyperspace.

_Don't like the competition?_ Mayb thought toward the back of Qui-Gon's head. Grinning and looking forward to their next destination, she began applying color to her lips.

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

Mayb snuggled next to Qui-Gon in the back seat of the air taxi. She especially liked rubbing her head next to the shoulder of his robe as if she were marking him with her scent. Qui-Gon supposed that she might be. They climbed up to the highest lane of traffic over the flat plane of the townships and patches of parkland.

Cucadu had been one of the worlds that Yinis and Binoka had visited, but curiously there was no mention of Edoma in relation to it. Presumably they had not made the connection between Edoma and the slave traders. He dispatched Obi-Wan to continue following Yinis and Binokas' trail and visit Edoma's local business interests.

Mayb had squealed with delight when he announced that they would be spending the day together. She had been so happy that she gave Obi-Wan a huge hug. Obi-Wan had stood there stiffly and frowned over her head at him. Qui-Gon kept his expression sympathetic, but he could do little else. This was a discomfort that his Padawan would have to resolve on his own. Qui-Gon supposed that it was just as well that he was keeping her busy all day, though he wondered if Mayb would be quite so happy to discover that his real purpose was to lead the seeker droid, that had begun following them almost as soon as they left the landing bay, away from what Obi-Wan was doing.

She had also been thrilled when he had made arrangements for them to stay at a fashionable hotel. It was conveniently near Mak Edoma's estate and had full service security. Mayb had cooed her approval and told them about her exceptionally successful internship as an accommodations greeter.

The air taxi whizzed over alternating areas of city and forest with the rest of the traffic. Qui-Gon ignored Mayb's little stroking motions on his body and leg, his mind going to the concerns of his apprentice. That morning, Obi-Wan had surprised him by telling him that he had a physical desire for Mayb, though he emphatically denied that there was anything personal about it. Qui-Gon believed him.

He had reassured his Padawan that events like this had come up with him as well when he was younger, but Obi-Wan was still disappointed in his lack of control. Qui-Gon was even more disappointed in himself for not seeing it without being told. In retrospect, he realized that the signs had been there, but he had carelessly attributed them to Obi-Wan's earlier defiance.

The air taxi made it's last turn into the speeder dock of the Jolumtri Plateau Gardens. When it stopped they climbed out and Qui-Gon paid the droid their fare. The air taxi zoomed off. Other people were coming and going but it was a light crowd. Mayb went to the ornately carved railing of the dock. Below them stretched the Mynus Townships interspersed with large patches of forests. In the distance other garden plateaus, topped with lush greenery, rose up above the plain.

Mayb stretched her arms out and inhaled the fresh air deeply. Her green drape fell off of one bare shoulder. Her metallic gold dress glinted in the daylight. The sky a cloudless and stunning blue. Trellises thick with flowing vines shaded the platform they stood on.

Her arms still outstretched, Mayb turned to him.

"It's beautiful," she sighed happily. Behind her, the small gray globe of the seeker droid, still following them from the spaceport, covertly floated beyond the vines. Qui-Gon could just hear the faintly musical tone of its hum.

He folded his arms into the sleeves of his dark brown robe and inclined his head toward her. "Yes, it is," he agreed amiably.

Obviously unsatisfied by his level of enthusiasm, Mayb dropped her arms with a huff. Then she slipped her arm around his, latching onto it just above the elbow. Qui-Gon kept his arms folded before him.

"Shall we go?" he invited.

"Lets."

They strolled toward the gate together. Qui-Gon paid for both of them for the day, plus refreshments. The attendant droid greeted them and activated a portal in the park's massive gate. They walked through together and the heavy door slid shut behind them.

Mayb sighed and rubbed her hair next to the rough fabric of his robe. They walked down a meandering path of flat stones into a fabulous garden of flowering bushes, enormous trees and lush green plants. Decorative birds and colorful insects chirped, twittered and tweeted above. Behind them, Qui-Gon heard the sound of sparks and an angry buzzing as the seeker droid tried to get through the force field that surrounded the whole garden plateau. It could still view them from afar, but only with difficulty through the foliage. Qui-Gon patted Mayb's hand. The air was thick with the abundance of woody mosses, healthy soil, fresh leaves and flowers.

It did seem likely that the seeker following them was from Edoma, who had apparently been thwarted in his attempt to 'buy' Mayb though a fraudulent marriage contract. Qui-Gon surmised that his own option had upset the whole process. For the duration of the option, Qui-Gon had exclusive rights to negotiating a full marriage contract with Mayb or her representatives.

Dean Hawxol had presumably intended to present her with a 'marriage' contract and she would have agreed to it without question; she had hardly looked at her option with Qui-Gon before binding herself to it. Qui-Gon had reported his opinion in his latest, brief report to the Temple that he had sent before leaving the ship.

They followed the path to the shore of a pond. Little creatures plunked in the water or snapped up succulent insects from the wide floating plants on the surface. Trailing strands of green and gold curtained the path from the tree branches above.

When they emerged from hyperspace, the Jedi Temple had only instructed them to continue reporting their progress. The two Jedi who were pursuing the attempted killers of Dean Hawxol, Master Devano and Knight Yudi, reported that slavers might be following Mayb. This information did possibly identify the culprit following Obi-Wan and Mayb on Ayma's moon. But otherwise it was not anything that they did not already know. And the Temple still withheld any comment or judgement about the marriage contract option. Qui-Gon was relieved that he did not need to deal with any rebukes, yet.

They walked along the irregular perimeter of the pond, occasionally pausing to look at the decorative and primitive wooden signs describing the fauna, but Qui-Gon's mind stayed on the puzzles of their mission. What baffled him was why Edoma would need to pursue the legal fiction of a marriage contract in the first place. Slavery was illegal in the Republic. A fraudulent marriage contract was just a waste of time, unless Edoma wished to imprison Mayb outside the borders of the Republic. But Edoma had apparently never traveled outside the Republic in his life.

Mak Edoma appeared to be a very average and moderately successful businessman, but nothing more. Qui-Gon glanced upward, but there was nothing non-organic moving beyond the canopy above them. It appeared that the seeker droid had lost them, but it would doubtless be waiting for them at the gate when they left. Qui-Gon glanced down at the top of his companion's hair. His original intention back at the school had been to remove Mayb from danger; now he was parading her before it. But his instincts told him that she was safe with them, and that would have to suffice. His arm was warm where she clung to him.

They left the pond area and followed a path into a more heavily forested part of the garden. Qui-Gon felt quite happy to stroll silently through the living garden. He could feel the Living Force all around him. He could have closed his eyes and known exactly where he was and what was around him. If their mission concluded on this world, he considered coming back with Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon expected his Padawan would be in need of some quiet time for contemplation when their mission was complete. Obi-Wan had vowed not to allow his 'lack of control' to interfere with their mission, but Qui-Gon knew that this kind of tension could not be assuaged with promises. Qui-Gon could read the unhappiness in Obi-Wan's eyes when he advised that the best he could do was to let the feelings play out, wherever they led. While still minding their mission. But Obi-Wan wanted certainty, definite actions to take, disciplines to follow that would snuff out this unwanted lust. He longed for it, more than desired for Mayb. But that was something Obi-Wan would need to learn for himself.

In the end, Qui-Gon had simply ordered Obi-Wan to meditate on suppressing all his feelings and reactions he had toward Mayb until they completed their mission. He knew that these instructions could be damaging as a long term solution; they was no solution at all. But they were definite boundaries that Obi-Wan thought he needed. They would suffice for now.

Qui-Gon turned onto a new path, one that lead away from the pond into a heavily forested though well-pruned part of the garden. Her arm around slid his waist. Mayb walked with him, her steps matching his. She continued to share the silence of the garden with him for a time. Until she started pestering him about buying him a gift.

"I'm afraid there isn't anything here to buy," he said, extending his hand out to the idyllic forest garden around them. The sunlit pond area was only visible through a near tunnel of foliage behind them. The sky was completely obscured by the thick canopy above.

She playfully slapped his arm. "Silly. These places always have a gift shop at the end. They don't just make their money on the admittance and the food. Now what would you like? I'm sure there will be all kinds of garden things."

Qui-Gon pretended to think for a moment.

"Well, what I would really like is to see you buy something for yourself."

Mayb drew back with a puzzled expression.

"I think it could be very important for me to know what things you like. The best place for us to start might be for you to show me."

A smile curled her lips. "That's very considerate of you. I'd be happy to accept." They continued on together for a few more paces. "And Obi-Wan didn't know what to get for you," Mayb said, her head nestled against his shoulder again.

Qui-Gon smirked sadly. "Obi-Wan does not know everything."

**- - - End Part 5**


	6. Chapter 6

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 6**

Obi-Wan's dipped his rented speeder bike out of the stream of the afternoon traffic of B'Feldi Township. He swooped down over the speeder park to the main entrance of an immense building of shiny panes set in a gridwork of pasti-steel glinting in Cucadu's blue-white sun. As soon as he stopped and dismounted a parking droid, as shiny and glittering as the building itself, approached. He let it scan the identicard he produced before entering. The droid whizzed off on the speeder bike to the parking area.

The mirrored double doors slid aside for him and he entered a circular lobby lined with huge silvery pillars. A few well dressed business people crossed the marble tiled floor. A large globe glittered high over the reception desk, alone in the center of the expanse of floor and surrounded by smaller shiny pillars.

"May I help you?" a polite woman with bright pink hair and eyes, and wearing a cheerful yellow suit looked up at him from her desk. Obi-Wan glanced at the directory behind her.

"Yes, I would like to speak to someone at Flumus, Jorok and Zah'quin about a contract of theirs."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No. But I believe they will see me."

The receptionist frowned her doubts back at him and then looked down at the screen at her desk after Obi-Wan flicked his identicard over her scanner. Her face went a bit rigid as she read the glowing text and images. Obi-Wan's expression remained pleasantly neutral. The receptionist cleared her throat before looking up.

"I need to speak with my supervisor."

"Of course," Obi-Wan agreed. The woman rose, leaving the circle of her desk and hurrying across the back of the lobby to an open doorway. She disappeared and a moment later reappeared with a blue-haired woman in a yellow suit with orange shoulder-rankings. They slowly walked back toward the desk while stealing looks at Obi-Wan and intensely whispering to each other.

"They haven't done anything have they?" the older woman asked.

"How would I know what they do? But his card says that he's entitled to look at anything he likes. He's got the rank of a Senate Inquisitor. The _Galactic_ Senate. Through the Jedi Temple. I didn't know they could do that."

The supervisor frowned. "I'll look it up, but I suppose that's right."

"You suppose?"

"Well, I've never had a Jedi in the building before, have I? And he asked to see the top floors anyway; they're lawyers, they'd know wouldn't they? He looks awfully young, doesn't he? You don't suppose he can hear us, do you?"

Obi-Wan folded his arms into the sleeves of his robe and tried to look uninterested. The two woman stopped moving forward. With a stiff smile on her face, the supervisor retreated back to her offices and the receptionist returned to her desk and gave him a yellow pass disk to attach to his robe and directions to the offices of Flumus, Jorok and Zah'quin. Obi-Wan thanked her and went to the lifts at the back of the lobby. The car came quickly, but as he entered, he heard from the receptionists desk, "Peeni, you won't _believe_ what's coming up to you. . . ."

Obi-Wan sighed, alone in the lift. He did not expect to find much from an inquiry with Mak Edoma's lawyers, who had written up the marriage option contract that Qui-Gon had assumed. But Obi-Wan had spent the day visiting Edoma's mundane business interests. He had viewed a quarry that specialized in supplying materials for small art objects, gone on a short canal tour, sampled the products of two bakeries and had a very nice lunch at a B'Feldi Township café. Obi-Wan saw and sensed nothing unusual at any of them. Nobody noticed him and nothing followed him.

The lift doors parted.

Obi-Wan stepped out into a light green lobby, not as grand at the main one on the ground floor, but plush carpets lined the floors, the walls were decorated with elaborate carved and glossy panels and everything was spotless and smelled of efficiency.

"I would like to inquire about a contract option that was written up by your firm," he told the attentive, heavy-set man at the reception desk. His pale fleshy head was hairless except for the bright green plume that sprouted up from the top of his head.

"Of course," he said too quickly. His desk plate read, 'Peeni'. "Um, who is the client?"

"Mak Edoma. And it is a marriage option with a Mayb Oeschus Arimba." Peeni tapped it into his terminal.

"That is. . . . " Peeni ran a thick finger down a list on his screen. "Zi-zom Edoma's case, I think."

"Is she related?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes, distantly, she is. I think. But I've never asked," Peeni denied. "But she's in a meeting at the moment. Would you like to wait?"

Obi-Wan did not really want to wait, but nothing else he had done the whole day had produced any results. He agreed to wait and declined Peeni's offer of refreshments.

"But I would like to have this contract analyzed for the most relevant points." He held out his comlink. He had a copy of all the data he had studied the night before along with Qui-Gon's option with Mayb.

"There will be a charge for that," Peeni said. Obi-Wan presented his credit chip and the receptionist copied the contract into their computer system.

Obi-Wan took a seat in a green, cushioned chair. He glanced at some of the reading matter and holos tidily arranged on the short table before him, but they all seemed to be about legal conferences and real estate. The lobby was entirely enclosed and lit artificially. Apparently outside sunlight was reserved for the offices.

Still baffled that he had not been followed, Obi-Wan considered the option that Mak Edoma could be completely innocent of being connected with the slavers. Most of his business interests were on Cucadu and his few off-world activities were in nearby systems, in the Republic. And nothing Obi-Wan had seen looked like it could even remotely be connected to slavers. But Edoma's name had still been in Yinis and Binokas' files, along with Mayb's and the Ob Krim Academy.

The lawyer's name was Edoma, too. Obi-Wan's eyes shifted to Peeni at his desk.

It was a small bit of information and it hardly seemed to be worth a whole day's searching to find. Obi-Wan sighed. The lawyer's name did not ignite his intuition. It seemed to him that Qui-Gon might learn more, if the person or persons commanding the seeker droid revealed themselves. And it was clearly apparent that the droid from the spaceport and the one in the fresher the day before were following Mayb. Obi-Wan felt unsettled when he saw the seeker zooming off after the taxi carrying his Master and Mayb. It was similar to what he had felt just before the attack in the fresher, but he had searched his feelings in the Force and found nothing. Yet a trace of that feeling still lingered in him in the placid environs of the waiting room of a law firm.

Obi-Wan cleared his mind. He stayed still for a time, neutral to everything around him, before he let his thoughts return to their mission, the dead slave liberators, the seeker droids, Qui-Gon's rash action back at the Academy on Massko and Mayb's arms around Qui-Gon, his Force influence over her . . . .

He forced himself to relax. Qui-Gon's advice for him to follow his feelings about Mayb lay uninspiring in his brain. _What_ feelings? he wondered. He felt nothing for Mayb Oeschus Arimba. The heat in his loins was like the unwelcome reflex of another person's appendage that spawned speculation about the curves of Mayb's hips and the scent of her hair.

Obi-Wan's teeth clenched.

Qui-Gon's admonishment to restrain all of his impulses for the good of their mission made much more sense to the young man. It felt right. His thoughts easily descended upon all the reasons why he would not want to even touch Mayb.

All of her best features were only physical beauty. She had no depth at all beyond that.

Not only was she haughtily ignorant of Jedi, she seemed incapable of absorbing any facts about them that she did not like.

She only valued material possessions. And she equated happiness with the exchange of gifts.

She spent huge amounts of her time doing nothing more productive than maintaining and artificially enhancing her appearance.

While he did not think she was unintelligent, Mayb stubbornly seemed to believe that anything that she believed was true was unalterably so.

A stability, an insulating calm filled him with the increasing mental distance he placed between himself and Mayb, as if the Force itself were pushing her away.

"Aaaah-hmmm."

Obi-Wan looked up and jumped to his feet, the hood of his robe falling back from his head. A tall woman stood before him. She was trim with very broad shoulders and styled, thick hair that was a rich shade of brown with reddish highlights. She was dressed in a maroon suit with gold patterned edges along the hems and cuffs and matching shoes.

"Jedi. . . . .Padawan. Kenobi," she began in a low commanding voice, her eyes flicking toward the thin braid that hung down from behind his right ear. He bowed his head to her while she continued to evaluate him.

"I wish to speak with your Master."

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

Mayb sipped her green fizzie through a straw and watched her presumed fiancee.

Qui-Gon lifted his hand high again. Another little bird fluttered down from the trees near their table and alighted on his extended fingers. It fluffed its bright yellow wings and chirped cheerfully. Little green and blue ones peeked at the crumbs left on Qui-Gon's plate. He brought the bird close to his face and pursed his lips towards it. A green bird resting on his arm fluttered up to join the yellow one.

Mayb sighed, thinking that this was likely to be the most affection that she was going to see from him.

They sat at a small intimate table in a garden café with no one else seated near them, all perfect and romantic. They had just shared a delicious late afternoon snack. And Qui-Gon was quite charming. To the birds.

The scene before her was quite adorable she supposed. Except for the light flecks on the dark brown sleeves of Qui-Gon's robe. Mayb did not care to think about what might be in his hair at the moment. Obi-Wan had told her the day before that Qui-Gon would never wear any hair adornment in the shape of a bird. But apparently he did not mind if live ones nested in it.

_Eccentric._

Mayb glanced down at the shimmering touquise silveroid ring on her middle finger, the gift that she had selected for herself. It seemed to please Qui-Gon. He was generous. But he was also not interested in romance. He had only paid for the day and only in the public areas of the gardens, not for any of the secluded grottos, letting another opportunity for them to become more physically acquainted slip by. He did not seem to be even aware that she had noticed.

It was now abundantly clear to Mayb why Qui-Gon had insisted on dragging Obi-Wan with them on this trip. She had not looked at the details of the proposed marriage contract itself, but it would doubtless include certain duties for his apprentice with respect to her. Things that Qui-Gon had diminished drive for in his old age. This seemed a shame to her, since he was still a good physical specimen. For his age. And he did have taste she thought, admiring her new ring.

Arrangements like that were common enough, she supposed, but those marriages were more like business deals than family. Mayb had thought about it. She wanted her marriage to be family.

Another little bird joined Qui-Gon, a brilliant blue one, chirping cheerfully on his shoulder. It matched his eyes.

Mayb pressed her lips together, unwilling to completely write off Qui-Gon. They were only a few days into the option period, plenty to time to explore the possibilities.

Qui-Gon suddenly looked down at himself. The birds fluttered away from him when he pulled out a small, silvery comm from nowhere. She had not heard a comm signal. Mayb could not hear anything from it, but Qui-Gon seemed to. He put the comm away.

"We need to see Obi-Wan," he told her, getting up.

Mayb sighed and dragged herself up out of her chair. The thought of herself with such a skinny ordinary boy did not inspire her at all. But, she thought as latched onto Qui-Gon's arm, she supposed that it was worth a try.

_Obi-Wan. Why does it have to be Obi-Wan?_

**- - - End Part 6**


	7. Chapter 7

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 7**

Qui-Gon spotted his Padawan in the spacious lobby of the Grand Muzat by a repulsor-supported sculpture that stretched up to the ceiling in glittering golds and silvers. As soon as Obi-Wan recognized him and Mayb, a stately woman in a maroon business suit turned toward them as well.

"Master Qui-Gon," she addressed him. "I am Zi-Zom Edoma, Mak Edona's legal representative."

"I am pleased to meet you," he said politely, bowing.

"I am sure that your Padawan is capable, but I needed to speak with you directly about the document he presented at my office."

"Well, I don't need to be here for this," Mayb announced, tacitly dismissing the woman as she adjusted the green drape over her shoulders. Her shiny gold dress swished around her knees as she began to walk away.

"You can wait in our suite and see if it is to your liking." Qui-Gon's eyes flicked toward Obi-Wan who hastened to go with her. He then extended his arm toward a long, wide corridor that led to the Grand Muzat's lounge. The glowing sign over the entry archway said it was called Mimi's. Edoma did not speak until they were seated and the service droid had taken their orders.

"I was surprised when Padawan Kenobi appeared in our office. I was even more surprised by the contract he asked us to analyze."

"Was it not your contract?" Qui-Gon asked looking at the lawyer over the table's small covered glow light.

"It was," she replied, gazing downward. "At one time." Grimacing, she looked back up at him. "Though it still retained our signature codes, it was altered. And not by my firm."

Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows, inviting her to continue. Zi-Zon Edoma listed the major agreements between the contract parties, Qui-Gon Jinn and Mayb Oeschus Arimba. The option gave any suitor exclusive rights to negotiate terms of marriage for a fixed time, without the possibility of there being a bidding war with others for the intended mate. The contract itself was not very long. The appendices to it were twenty times longer than the main body of the document.

Edoma reviewed the main points of the contract and Qui-Gon patiently listened. Most of it he already knew, but the discourse gave him time to evaluate his companion. He sensed nothing other than professional intensity from her. If she was nervous or lying, she was exceptionally good at controlling it.

The droid arrived with their drinks, a zuno tea in a delicate ceramic cup for Qui-Gon and a glittering amber tingle-juice for her. Qui-Gon paid the droid for both of them.

"But there are some clauses that my firm did NOT included in the document sent to the Yube Krim Academy." She reached inside her suit jacket and laid a blue data chip before Qui-Gon. "This is a sealed, notarized copy of our original contract and it is on file with the Cucadu courts."

Qui-Gon did not even glance down at the chip laying on the white table covering. "And the difference are?"

"Some clauses have been added regarding the status of both parties when traveling outside the Republic." She named several planets and territories in the outer reaches of the galaxy. Qui-Gon noticed immediately that in all the ones he recognized slavery was legal, sometimes traditional. Edoma continued, in a careful measured tone, describing the important points of the alterations to the contract. The added clauses specified that local laws and customs regarding both betrothed and married persons overrode Republic law. So, with the existing contract, Qui-Gon, as the purchaser, could declare Mayb as his property if they were to travel to any of the named places in those clauses.

Qui-Gon listened to her building her case, her defense. He judged her to be an excellent lawyer. She had seen the danger, the purpose of the changes and what her cousin, and her law firm, could be accused of. But she never speculated about what the danger was, never mentioned it. Her arguments stayed in the safe area of proving that she, her cousin and her law firm had nothing to do with an unlawfully altered marriage option that, if used a certain way, could trap a person into slavery. The blue chip remained untouched on the table between them.

"Might I ask, Counselor Edoma, why your cousin sought a bride at the Yube Krim Academy on Massko, when surely there must be similar institutions locally?" he asked, skipping all Edoma's arguments. Good lawyers did not always have innocent clients.

"A number of members of my family have attended the Academies on Massko. My brother had his contract picked up after graduating from the Yube Krim, and he's been happy with his family for over twenty years. And." Edoma paused, sighing. Qui-Gon sensed her change to a more confiding tone. Her body language begged for his understanding; it was sincerely felt, but she also used it as a tool to gain his sympathy. She was a good lawyer.

"My cousin has had some unsuccessful and unfortunate pairings. He is not entirely faultless and I suggested that a marriage contract that explicitly specified his and his partner's roles might be more suitable for his temperament. And off-world, he could have a fresh start."

"Hmm. He perhaps has a reputation locally?"

Edoma's lips thinned. "He is a man of business. He understands it very well and he is very good at it. Better than he is at other things."

"What kind of business?"

A grimace flashed across her face at the opening she had given him.

"Tourism, entertainments, catering, along with some property and minor industrials that support them. _All_ quite ordinary, public and accounted for."

Though Qui-Gon expected that she would be just as adamant for a less than exemplary client whom she was not related to, he sensed truthfulness as well. And everything she said matched what Obi-Wan had reported from his researches into Mak Edoma's background.

Glancing downward, he picked up the blue chip and turned it over in his hand, his arm resting on the table.

"I shall consider this," he said casually as he tucked the chip into a belt pouch.

Her offering accepted, Edoma let her relief show, just enough at least to possibly gain his sympathy again. She sipped her drink.

"I must admit that I was surprised when I saw that another party had picked up the contract. And who it was," she said over the rim of her glass. "A Jedi contracting for a marriage negotiation? That is just a bit. . . . irregular, isn't it?"

Qui-Gon only politely inclined his head, smiling pleasantly back at her. She obviously knew enough about Jedi to know that a marriage option was completely outrageous.

"Of course, your option blocks any of my cousin's offers. He was very disappointed when he heard that Arimba had optioned his contract to someone else. But since you are here, that does not mean that we couldn't discuss what your. . . . options are?"

"The school notified you that Mayb was unavailable?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

She sat back, obviously disappointed by the lack of information in his inquiry.

"The notification was automatic as soon as the contract was registered with the courts on Massko, which was automatic as soon as the document was signed." She put her drink down. "A friend of mine had her option stolen right out from under her from the same school, so she recommended having the contract linked."

"Dean Hawxol approved of this?"

Her eyes narrowing, she appeared to be considering what this question might imply. "He complained bitterly about the extra expense, but we wouldn't forward the option or the proposed marriage contract without it." She clasped her hands around her drink. In the lounge's low light her hair and suit were similar shades of maroon undertones over darkness. That and her calculating expression made her look a bit predatory.

Qui-Gon sat back, suddenly wary, but it was not caused by the calculating lawyer sitting before him.

Somewhere above, he heard the distant sound of something going 'Boom'.

**- - - End Part 7**


	8. Chapter 8

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 8**

The shiny pink fresher door slid open.

"So, do you think Qui-Gon will be long, talking to that lawyer?" Mayb's voice came out of the open door, but she remained hidden inside. He could hear some liquid in a container being shaken.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan replied. He had been disappointed by Zi-Zom Edoma's cool reception, but as soon as she asked for his Master, he had been obliged to take her to Qui-Gon.

He looked out of their suite window wall at the balcony's miniature garden and the faint blue glow of the privacy screen beyond it. The Grand Muzat prided itself on serving its patrons' every need (for a fabulous price, of course) including their demands for security. Seeker droids were not permitted. Their suite included a large pink and watery green sitting room and three separate sleeping rooms along with a spacious fresher decorated in polished pastel stone. Mayb had immediately taken advantage of it. She had also asked when her things would be brought from the ship. Unless Qui-Gon intended to buy her new things.

Obi-Wan felt himself comfortably at peace. His trepidation about Mayb and his own impulses had gone, evaporated and receded in the mental distance between her, a young socialite and him, a Jedi Padawan. There was nothing between them.

"Well, it's a shame," Mayb said. "Qui-Gon's probably down there right now arranging for Mak Edoma to buy off his option. _I_ was certainly willing to give it more of a try." Her voice emerged from the fresher.

Obi-Wan turned to her. Mayb stepped up to him and slid her arms around his waist. Her golden hair was perfect as usual, cascading down her bare shoulders, her green drape clinging to her body. The gold dress that was supposed to be under it was missing. And she was barefoot.

"I still am."

Suddenly he felt yesterday's hormones returning, stronger than ever. He stared, as shocked by her sudden advance as he was by his vanishing control.

"I don't think we should. . . .should. . . ." She was rubbing her head against his shoulder. And other parts of her were rubbing against other parts of him.

"Why not?" He was swaying with her now as she tasted his collar bone, her breath warm on his skin. "I know you're supposed to take care of me for Qui-Gon. He's not interested. And I can tell you are." She grinned, wiggled her hips and pressing them into him. A single high pitched syllable came out of him.

"We might as well give it a try," she said softly into his neck.

'You must follow your feelings in this, Obi-Wan,' had been what Qui-Gon first told him that morning. But Qui-Gon always said that. Had Mayb been listening to them from the fresher on the ship?

Mayb's lips followed his jawline back and she began mouthing his ear. Obi-Wan gasped with an audible sigh, it felt so amazingly good. He couldn't believe it. It was his ear. His thoughts swam with anticipation of what it would feel like when Mayb's mouth moved onto other places.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, using her weight to pull him down to his knees. He could not remember what they had been talking about or where they were. He felt himself slipping into what was to come, losing control of his body, his thoughts, the Force. . .

Mayb squealed as he leapt up and violently thrust her away, the Force sending her flying back into the fresher to thump and skid on the smooth, hard floor. His body shaking, Obi-Wan swept his outstretched hand before him to close the door.

Nothing happened.

He scrambled forward and slammed his hand on the locking controls. The pink door slid shut over Mayb's screech of rage. Furious thumping assaulted the door from inside the fresher. Knees shaking, Obi-Wan slid down to the floor, his back to the door.

Gulping breaths of air, he tried to reassemble his earlier calm, but it was gone. It had been an illusion all along. Behind him, Mayb screamed and pounded harder on the door. Obi-Wan concentrated on breathing slower, but he couldn't think. His instincts were scrambled, but still there, as well as the Force. He was the source of the turmoil.

As soon as that thought formed, a real calm spread outward from it to the Force, the room around him and to the raging woman in the fresher. He felt himself detaching from it all. And one question crystallized amidst the debris of events.

Why had he done that?

Qui-Gon had instructed him to mind their mission first, but they were in a protected suite and Mayb had been willing. If he had simply satisfied his lust, and hers, then he would have been done with it. Nothing more would have happened. He realized now what Qui-Gon had meant by following his feelings. There was no way to rationalize his way out of them. They were not rational. But they were also transitory, impulses of the moment.

Gravely disappointed in his lack of insight, he sagged against the door. The pounding behind him stopped though he could still hear Mayb inarticulately exhaling her fury. Things began hitting the tiled walls of the fresher. There was a fine tantrum going on in the fresher. Mayb's passion flowed so freely, so effortlessly that he felt a twinge of awe at the transition from pure sexual desire to pure rage, from which he now sat disconnected.

Obi-Wan tensed, his hand going to his lightsaber.

Oooaaaaahhhh-oooom, Oooaaaaahhhh-oooom, Oooaaaaahhhh-oooom!!!!

Obi-Wan threw himself aside just as the fresher door opened. Another alarm clanged, joining the first one.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" Mayb screamed as torrents of water hit her from the fire suppression system in the ceiling. Instantly soaked, Obi-Wan rolled to his feet. In his side vision, he saw the privacy screen flicker out beyond the suite's balcony.

THOOOOOMM!!!

Beyond the little fresher alcove, the entryway exploded into the main room of the suite, thunderously drowning out the alarms.

FFFFFFFFFFFFZZZZzzzzzztttttttttttTTTTT!!!!!!!!

His blue lightsaber blade caught the first blaster bolts coming at him from the destroyed entryway. Mayb screamed and dove back into the fresher. Still deflecting blaster bolts, Obi-Wan spun away from the window to position himself before the doorway. Two large, dark figures descended onto their balcony and Obi-Wan recognized the same type of gray skinned beings in black armor from the day before. He heard a voice yelling, "Get him! Get him!"

He backed up again, into the doorway of the fresher, but knew he could not retreat inside. If they blew up the door, the blast in such a confined space, reverberating inside the stone walls, could disable him before he could cut his way out to safety. One of his deflected bolts found its mark and an attacker went down with a smoking hole in the stomach.

"Aaaaauuuggghhhh!!!!"

On the balcony, a small brown thing fell onto one armored attacker, a green lightsaber blade emerged from the chest armor. The brown robe sprang up from the falling being and the green blade swung out. The head of the other attacker went flying over the balcony wall.

CCCRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHH!!!!

The entire window wall shattered, splinters of transparisteel flying into the suite.

"Aaaaaaaaauuuuuuugggggghhhhhhh!!!!"

The blaster fire stopped. Obi-Wan recognized Master Devano leaping, whirling, cutting off limbs and destroying blasters with every powerful saber stroke. The gray beings howled in horror and fled from the Jedi Master less than half their size.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuugggghhhhhhh!!!!"

Without even a glance toward Obi-Wan, Devano ran after them on his stubby legs, his gray hair and beard wild, his robe billowed out behind him. Obi-Wan heard the invaders' cries receding down the hallway outside with Devano's booted footsteps pelting after them.

The room was silent again. Everything was wet and dripping. The remains of a lumi-post crashed down to the soggy carpet. The air was thick with the smell of smoldering, damp upholstery.

"Are they gone?" Mayb breathed behind him.

Obi-Wan gulped, his saber still held up before him defensively, but he sensed no more intruders either in the suite or outside.

"Yes."

Mayb's small hand grabbed his Padawan's tail lock and jerked his head backward.

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

"You! Pathetic! Little! Daz-slug!" Mayb punctuated each word with a kick to Obi-Wan's body, huddled on his side on the floor before her. But she was in bare feet and the floor was wet and she almost slipped. Her hair was wet and ruined, her body scarf cold and sticking to her.

Determined to cause as many bruises on him as he had given her when he pushed her away, she tried kicking at his head. But Obi-Wan was protecting himself with his arms, he had his knees pulled up covering his body and he was wearing all those clothes. She could tell that she wasn't really hurting him.

_How could I have __ever__ thought that he was capable?! This worthless, scrawny, simpering bum-wipe! This useless, whimpering boy with bad hair, bad skin, who dressed like his Master, whose manhood probably shriveled up years ago under that tatty robe because he was too self-involved to know what to do with it! If I had any sense I wouldn't have even let a little devo like you even __look__ at me!_

Furiously she looked around for something heavy to hit him with.

There was a pair of statues on plinths on either side of the bubbling bathing pool. She grabbed one and pulled.

It didn't come.

Frustrated, Mayb kept tugging on it, but it was firmly fixed in place and the plinth stayed solidly upright even when she heaved with her whole body.

Hands grabbed her wrists from behind.

"Mayb." Obi-Wan said her name.

_Don't you __dare__ touch me!_

Mayb wriggled around to snarl back at him, ignoring whatever he was saying.

"Get off of me!!!" she screamed.

She tried to bring her hands up to scratch his face, but he held them away.

A new hand, with long skeletal fingers, pale with bluish, clawlike nails grabbed her. She looked up the thin arm, covered with common, coarse brown material up to a death-head face framed by thin, wispy blond hair. Intense, pale green eyes underneath a hood of more coarse brown froze her in place.

"I think you should calm down," said a whispery female voice, another skeletal hand passed before her eyes.

Mayb felt as if she were floating, her mind blank. She drifted out of the fresher between Obi-Wan and this newcomer. There was another person there as well, someone she recognized, but that realization slid away into the fog. Mayb drifted through the ruined suite. There were hotel droids and staff around. They were upset.

She was taken into one of the three sleeping rooms. It was pretty and untouched by the disaster outside. Obi-Wan peeled the sodden body scarf from her and the other one wrapped her in a thick white robe. She stared down at the seal of the Grand Muzat emblazoned in blue and purple on the cuffs of the robe. Then she was sitting in a soft comfortable chair with a high backrest.

Mayb stared up at a person she knew, the one who wasn't Obi-Wan. Then she started as if coming awake from a dream.

"Dean Hawxol!" she exclaimed.

**- - - End Part 8**


	9. Chapter 9

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 9**

The lift doors opened.

"Out!" Master Devano growled, prodding the prisoner's leg. Qui-Gon gave him a push to get him moving. As they exited, a second lift arrived with the local constables and the hotel manager. Devano charged down the hall with Qui-Gon and their prisoner following.

Devano stopped at a blackened, blasted part of the hallway. The door of one suite was gone, shattered into pieces scattered inside.

Inside, the main room of the suite was blasted, broken and flooded, but the fretting cleaning droids and housekeeping staff remained in a less destroyed corner of the room while constables and technicians scanned the wreckage. A moment later the constables from the lift joined them. A surly, craggy-faced inspector scowled at them while she helped direct the activity. They had agreed to allow the Jedi a moment to speak to the suspect. The local authorities did not really have much choice, since Jedi authority through the galactic senate easily overruled them.

Knight Yudi, a tall, thin Quorasi stood in a doorway. They went through it into one of the suite's undamaged rooms. Inside, Obi-Wan sat on a sleep couch; he looked damp. Qui-Gon recognized Dean Hawxol in a slightly wrinkled, dark blue suit with an orange shirt and white scarf tied around his neck.

"You!" Mayb leaped out of her chair at him.

She aimed a kick at his shin but he evaded it, not wanting her to hurt her toes on his heavy boots.

"If you think I would EVER marry you after this - - "

"Marry?" Devano said with surprise. Yudi shurgged.

"- - then you are even more of a BUCKETHEAD than you look!!!" she screamed. Qui-Gon easily caught her wrists and evaded more kicks. She tried to push him away and he let go.

"Then our contract can be terminated," he said calmly, folding his arms into his robe sleeves.

Mayb lifted her robe and thrust her hip forward, revealing the bulge of a new and purpling bruise. "Look at what _he did_!" She pointed at Obi-Wan, who looked like he going to be sick. "And _this_!" She pushed her white sleeve back, shoving a bruised elbow at him.

"We shall seek medical attention for you immediately," Qui-Gon promised. Clearly unsatisfied with this, Mayb continued to glare up at him. Then her eyes fell on a new offender.

"And you!!" she raged, pointing. "Don't think this means you can walk into this. I'm not giving out ANY options after this!" Surprised now, Qui-Gon looked at their prisoner, a middle-aged male human with slightly graying, light brown hair and beard. His otherwise distinguished green suit was a little crumpled after he had practically collided with Qui-Gon as he rushed out of the lift into the lobby of the Grand Muzat. His face was bruised where Qui-Gon had struck him with the butt end of his lightsaber hilt while he disarmed the much larger and armored attackers behind him.

"That's not Mak Edoma," Devano said by way of explanation. Qui-Gon raised his brows and saw a similar look of surprise on his Padawan's face.

"What are you talking about, you. . . . you hairy little wart?!" Mayb shouted down at Devano.

"THAT'S NOT MAK EDOMA YOU RAVING TWIT!!!" Devano boomed back, his voice filling the room. Mayb leaped back into Hawxol, both of them shocked.

"His name is Aimoh'toh," Devano continued, still loud but no longer shouting loud enough to be heard on the entire floor. "He's the slaver that THAT poovus scumbag was going to sell you to!" Devano pointed back at Hawxol who had gone pale. Mayb looked from one to the other, her mouth open, frozen between surprise and outrage. Aimoh'toh only glared maliciously at Devano.

"What is he talking about?" Mayb demanded.

"Mayb Oeschus, my dear, I might have. . . ." Hawxol stammered, ". . . misrepresented, this particular - - OW!"

Mayb's kick finally connected. Howxol bent over his injured shin.

**- - - End Part 9**


	10. Chapter 10

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 10**

Obi-Wan stood in the back of the lift full of police, prisoners and Jedi. And Mayb.

She had retrieved her metallic gold dress and shoes, kept the white robe to hide her bruises and wrapped a complimentary hotel scarf over her 'ruined' hair. While she had done that, he and Qui-Gon had more or less gotten the rest of Master Devano and Knight Yudis' story.

Aimoh'toh and his enforcers had been following Mayb, hoping to capture her since she had been promised to a 'special' customer. Aimoh'toh did not seek out cheap, sentient labor for use on backward worlds where it was cheaper than droids and their maintenance. He supplied sentient flesh to rich criminals who craved the sinister luxury of dominating another being, the cruelest form of slavery.

Strangely enough Aimoh'toh had not tried to kill Hawxol. That attack had come from three former students of the Yube Krim Academy who had been Aimoh'toh's former victims and freed from their slave masters by Yinis and Binoka. One came from a family of means and the three of them had vowed a pact of revenge before they set off to expand Yinis and Binoka's work. But none of them were assassins and Yudi and Devano had easily stopped them. Devano declared them to be nothing more than an annoying distraction, but he admitted that they had been useful in frightening information out of Hawxol. They had been left behind in the custody of the local authorities on Massko, though Devano expected them to be eventually let go with only a warning.

The lift doors opened and they all moved out into the lobby. Aimoh'toh snarled at the constables who had a firm grip on his upper arms. The slaver's anger burned hotter than even Mayb's fit of outrage.

They crossed over Qui-Gon's saber gashes in the marble floors and separated into two groups. The police would take Aimoh'toh and Hawxol. Slavery or enabling slavery was a crime against the Republic and could be prosecuted on Cucadu. The Jedi would remain for a few days until the local authorities and the sector prosecutors had questioned them for the courts. And Qui-Gon would arrange for accommodations and transport back to Massko for Mayb.

Obi-Wan spotted Zi-Zom Edoma's maroon suit across the lobby as they went to the manager's office to make arrangement for the considerable damage done to the hotel. The lawyer stood with four others, two men and two women. Three of them broke off from the group and headed toward the moving knot of police.

"Aaaaaaaauuuuuuggggghhhhhh!!!!"

Devano's yell filled the huge lobby. People jumped and looked around while others on balconies a few floors up looked down. Devano and Yudi, blue and green sabers lit and swinging, leapt high, landed and ran toward the three people approaching the police who had their weapons drawn. Activating their own sabers, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon rushed after them.

"What are you doing here?" Devano bellowed. "I left you on Massko!" Both Devano and Yudi had their sabers pointed toward them, but the three appeared to be unarmed, or if they had weapons, they were smart enough not to draw them. They were all humanoid young adults, wearing similar utilitarian gray jump suits. One was a beautiful Twi'lek woman with a light purple complexion and a diamond tattoo on one cheek. Another was a large, muscular male human with reddish blond hair and a big chest. The third, standing in the middle before the other two was a pale-skinned, sliver-haired humanoid, as tall as Yudi and Qui-Gon. She pressed one hand to her chest, all her body motions smooth and elegant, like a dancer.

"Looking for a little more revenge are we?" Devano challenged the tall woman, apparently the leader of the three.

She made a face, showing her distaste for the short Jedi Master barring her way. Her expression changed to virulent hatred as she looked toward the police prisoners. Obi-Wan sensed an anger, a betrayal and fear that had been nurtured for a long time. Hawxol looked away. Aimoh'toh leered evilly. Obi-Wan sensed that the slaver had enjoyed his work. Too much.

"They're not worth our freedom," she declared, though there was no vehemence behind her words. Nothing to compare with the loathing that she clearly felt toward Aimoh'toh and Hawxol. Obi-Wan realized that they had to be the three former Academy students, and former slaves, who had been freed by Yinis and Binoka.

Devano sneered, swung his lightsaber downward, flicked it off and clipped it to the wide belt around his middle. Yudi, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan did the same.

"That's not wisdom I see," Devano declared, "but I suppose it's a start."

Click, click, click, click.

Mayb's small shoes approached them over the polished marble floor.

"You are ALL _BUCKETHEADS_," she declared, her lips thin and angry. Obi-Wan heard his Master sigh next to him. Then her expression shifted to surprise when she recognized the three former slaves.

"Pom? Sedda Hed?" she said, looking toward the pale purple Twi'lek woman and the elegant, silvery-haired female. "And. . . ." Mayb's face tensed in near-recognition toward the muscular Human male with reddish blond hair. "I know I've seen you. Didn't you all graduate last year?"

"Wym," the male muttered his name toward Mayb.

"I used to be like that," the beautiful Twi-'lek woman, Pom, muttered to the others who silently agreed.

"Mak! No!" A male Human in a swirling green cloak approached with Zi-Zon Edoma hurrying after him. He looked as if he could have been Zi-Zom's brother. Or son. He was broad shouldered, with the same thick brown head of hair with reddish highlights. He wore a long metallic gold suit tunic and pants; he had a neatly trimmed linear mustache and manicured hands.

"You're her," he announced, looking Mayb up and down. Eyes wide and challenging, she straightened.

"Mak, you cannot talk to her," Zi-Zom came around him to stand between him and Mayb. "She's exclusive."

"Because of that ridiculous option? With. . . ." he looked from Devano to Qui-Gon to Yudi to Obi-Wan. "One of _them_?" He waved a cape-draped arm expansively toward them all. "They're JEDI, Zi-Zom. They CAN'T get married. They're all EUNUCHS!"

"I am not," Devano said, offended.

"Nor me," Yudi added. Then her expression changed to puzzlement. "Married?"

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. Obi-Wan cringed when Mayb pointedly looked at his crotch and then at Qui-Gon's. Then she folded her arms tightly across her chest and tossed her head away from them.

"You're Mak Edoma? The _real_ Mak Edoma," Mayb demanded.

"An imposter. I _knew_ it," Zi-Zom muttered with a note of triumph. Then, horrified, she saw her cousin and Mayb looking each other over. She put herself between them again. "Stop this right now. Mak, you can void any chance you have for a good contract later if you start something now." Zi-Zom desperately waved her hands between the two, vainly trying to stop them from looking at each other. Obi-Wan noticed that their metallic gold and green outfits matched.

"What's wrong with your hair?" Mak Edoma asked, ignoring his lawyer.

Mayb opened her mouth wide in surprise, then pointed an accusing finger at Obi-Wan.

"HE ruined it! He locked me in the fresher and I had to use the fire alarm to get out and then a whole ocean of water came down on me and THOSE people," she pointed at the prisoners and the knot of constabulary around them, all transfixed by the shouting match before them, "came in and started _shooting_ things and _that_ repulsive man," she pointed at Devano, "came through the window _screaming_ like a mad man and waving that light thing and - -"

"Stop talking right this minute. I forbid it!" Zi-Zom yelled still trying to keep Mayb away from her client.

"If I may." Qui-Gon stepped forward. "I believe that I am allowed to give permission for Mayb to - -"

"_You_ don't give permission for _me_ to do _anything_!" Mayb tried to hit him, swinging wildly and Qui-Gon easily deflected it. She struck again, but this time she snagged the ends of Qui-Gon's long hair. Grinning viciously, she pulled hard and eyes wide, Qui-Gon was dragged down. He grabbed her arm, but she grabbed another handful and they began circling in place.

Obi-Wan and Yudi rushed forward to rescue Qui-Gon, but they got in each other's way. Mayb let go suddenly when Devano kicked her shin, and Yudi yanked the scarf off her head and grabbed her damp, disheveled hair.

"Let go!" Mayb screamed. Yudi swiftly withdrew her long bony hand, her expression smug. Obi-Wan stayed at Qui-Gon's elbow while he straightened his robe and ran his fingers through his hair before flipping it back over his shoulder. It didn't look like Mayb had pulled any out.

"Of course, if you're willing to sign something - -" Zi-Zom said to Qui-Gon. Mayb pushed her aside and stepped up to Mak. Her hair hung down in dark blond, ropy strands but her facial accents were still undamaged.

Suddenly seizing Edoma around the neck, she pulled him down into a long kiss. Mak's hands flailed at first before sliding over her hips and lower back. Obi-Wan gulped when he saw Edoma tighten his grip on her body, turning his own body so his leg went between hers.

"Get a room you two," Devano finally complained loudly.

Yudi looked bored. A few of the constables leered and the three in gray jump suits looked a bit disgusted. Obi-Wan looked up at Qui-Gon who just folded his arms before him impatiently.

Obi-Wan felt. . . .nothing. All afternoon he had thought of little else but erasing any unwanted passion for Mayb Oeschus Arimba. And now that the passion was gone he felt empty, like he had excised something that might not have needed to be removed.

Finally breaking their lip lock, Mak Edoma had a lecherous gleam in his eye. Mayb's eyes were closed as she rubbed her hair into his shoulder. Mak whirled around, taking her with him and they hurried across the lobby toward the front desk. Zi-Zom chased them, yelling at them about not having anything signed yet.

"Show's over," the stern faced inspector announced. With a grunted farewell, the crowd of police moved their prisoners toward the doors. The three in jump suits seemed to enjoy seeing the constables roughly hustling the prisoners along. Devano gave them a disgusted look, shaking his head of wild gray hair.

They heard Mak Edoma shouting, "SHUT UP, ZI-ZOM!!" from across the lobby.

"Well, we still have to sort you three out," Devano grumbled at the former slaves.

"We should go somewhere to discuss this," Qui-Gon invited, extending his arm. The Jedi and three others followed him down a wide corridor leading away from the lobby. Huge colorful hanging sculptures slowly turned overhead. At a turn at the end of the corridor they walked through a wide entryway, under a pink, glowing sign that read "Mimi's". A sleek service droid escorted them to a booth in the back of the lounge. The four Jedi took the seats with their backs to the wall, facing the three former slaves.

"Now, how did you get away from that sheriff I left you with, Hed?" Devano challenged the silver haired woman as soon as the droid left with their orders.

"Sheriff Drakom respects my family's position back on Massko," she replied evasively.

"Hawxol said we couldn't trust the locals," Yudi commented in her soft, whispering voice. "He demanded that we take him with us," she explained to Obi-Wan and his Master. "He said he wouldn't be safe from you," she finished to Sedda Hed.

"How did you know to follow us here?" Qui-Gon asked.

"They knew about Mak Edoma," Yudi replied. "Hawxol confessed everything to us in front of them."

"You didn't seem to mind having us threatening to kill him then?" Pom, the Twi'lek noted, her pretty face scornful.

"True," Yudi admitted. "His fear of you was convenient for us. At the time."

Devano growled, only his head, shoulders and bushy gray beard were above the tabletop in his place between Yudi and Qui-Gon.

"You vowed true vengeance for Hawxol for what he did to you. All of you. What changed?" Yudi asked, her tone only calmly curious.

The three glanced at each other.

"Like she said. It wasn't worth it," the man, Wym, said wearily. "I never wanted to do it anyway. Al and PohPoh. They told us. If we wanted to do any good, we couldn't waste what we had on revenge." He sadly looked toward his comrades and received their silent agreement.

"Then why did you come here then, if it wasn't for vengeance?" Qui-Gon asked.

"We didn't want Hawxol to get away," Sedda Hed replied.

"He was with us," Devano slapped the table with his palm. "He wasn't getting away."

"And Mayb was with us. She was safe," Qui-Gon affirmed.

"Really? And how many slaves do Jedi free? How many slavers to they stop from trapping people into bondage?" Sedda Hed's eyes smoldered with the wrongs that had been done to her.

"There are not nearly enough Jedi in the galaxy to deter all the slavers in it. But there are legions of those who have been wronged by them. Such as yourselves. And Yinis and Binoka. Their deaths are a loss to the galaxy," Qui-Gon finished solemnly.

Pom gasped. Wym lowered his head. Sedda Hed glared at Devano and Yudi.

"You knew. You knew they were dead," she accused.

"That wasn't our information to give," Devano stated. Contempt smoldered between Sedda Hed and the Jedi Master, but they said nothing else.

"I presume you intend to continue with Yinis and Binokas' work?" Qui-Gon asked, ignoring the confrontation.

"What if we are?" Wym challenged.

Qui-Gon did not answer. They all sat in mutual silence as the droid returned and delivered their orders, cups, tall clinking clear containers, a couple of plates of appetizers. Everyone's eyes followed the machine as it left them again.

"Our original mission," Qui-Gon began. All eyes went to him again. "Was to contact Yinis and Binoka. Their work had become. . . .known. And while the Republic has no legal power to oppose the slave trade outside its boundaries, it is. . . . friendly toward those who do. We had hoped to extend that friendship toward your liberators."

The three would be slave liberators stared back, apparently speechless.

"You want to help?" the Twi-Lek asked.

"The Republic wants to help. Unofficially," Qui-Gon corrected.

"They send Jedi for errands like this?" Sedda Hed asked critically.

"Yinis and Binokas' calling is dangerous. And crowded with deceivers. It is necessary that an offer of assistance come from someone who can be assured to be sincere."

Sedda Hed and her companions kept looking at each other. Obi-Wan could see that they wanted to discuss this offer. Privately, Obi-Wan did not feel that these three would be reliable. They had hardly more than determination and good intentions between them, not the years of experience or hundreds of freed slaves credited to Yinnis and Binoka. But Qui-Gon's instincts were sound and guided by the Living Force.

Qui-Gon produced a data chit and extended it to them. Sedda Hed's thin hand took it.

"The contact information there will deteriorate after three days. You have that long to think it over." Qui-Gon told them, folding his hands before him. The Twi-Lek woman downed her drink all at once.

Sedda Hed nodded to her companions and stood. The male Human grabbed a handful of snacks from one appetizer plate as they left.

"Not sure anything will come out of that," Devano grumbled, helping himself to some crackers.

"Possibly not. But that will be their goal to lose, not ours," Qui-Gon replied with raised brows.

"More likely they might lose their lives. From their own stupidity. Before they ever get a chance to get smart." Devano sipped his tea, carefully keeping the edge of his cup from spilling into his bushy gray beard.

"That is possible." Qui-Gon lowered his eyes. "Do you forsee that, Master Devano?"

Devano grimaced, his eyes closing, his shaggy brows lowered. Obi-Wan sensed the concentration of the Force, like a thickening of air about the short, shaggy Master. They all watched him.

"No," he finally answered, his features going slack. "I don't."

Qui-Gon smiled minimally.

Yudi nodded agreement. The smile on her all-bone and tendon face was sad and Obi-Wan wondered if being killed was the worst thing that could happen to Sedda Hed and her companions. Yudi picked up a slim, clear-plas of juice.

"I am told," she began in her speaking whisper after taking a sip. "That you are getting married, Master Qui-Gon."

Obi-Wan started. Qui-Gon grimaced. Devano chuckled.

"Yes, what has been going on?" the hairy Jedi Master asked. "Hawxol kept swearing that you ran off with that girl to elope. Even you aren't that much of a rogue."

Obi-Wan picked out a few nuts and dried fruits from the appetizer plate before him and keenly watched his Master's face. He saw some discomfort, some weariness, but no regret. Though Obi-Wan now sympathized more with the decision to take Mayb with them, using the marriage contract option to do it was still highly irregular. Qui-Gon did not need to explain the details to his Padawan, but he could not refuse an inquiry fellow Master.

Qui-Gon told Devano and Yudi about his strong sense that Mayb was in immediate danger at the Ob Krim Academy. He also gave more details than Obi-Wan had heard before about his private interview with Mayb at the school, especially about her refusal to believe that Dean Hawxol might do her harm. After spending a couple of days with her, Obi-Wan well understood her obstinance. In retrospect, Qui-Gon's mind influences on her seemed completely sensible.

Yudi looked mildly amused.

"You are brave, Master Qui-Gon," Yudi said with a thin-lipped smile. "I would have thrown her over my shoulder and kidnapped her before binding myself to her, even to get her out of danger."

Devano slapped the table.

"Good instincts!" he declared with a broad grin under his hairy mustache. "Aimoh'toh was right behind you. That slaver was probably coming in the front door while you were going out the back. He'd moved on to go after the girl by the time we got there, but we got the whole story from Hawxol." He took another gulp of his tea.

"And you followed Aimoh'toh here." Qui-Gon surmised. His fellow Master nodded and wiped his mouth.

"He made a few stops before arriving at Cucadu, presumably to arrange for his attack," Yudi explained. "We arrived at the spaceport at nearly the same time and followed him directly here. But we did not understand why the fire alarm was activated. The slavers seemed to be as surprised by it as we were. But apparently it was the girl herself who did it." Yudi turned her skull-like face toward Obi-Wan. "After you locked her in the fresher?"

Obi-Wan felt a bit of nut catch in his throat. He swallowed, but the piece of nut seemed to stick there. Qui-Gon, Devano and Yudi were all looking at him, patiently waiting for his explanation. Obi-Wan took a big swallow of tea.

"She made an aggressive sexual advance toward me. And I pushed her away. And locked the door." His explanation was as short as he could make it. Obi-Wan kept his gaze steady on his fellow Jedi.

There was surprise on Qui-Gon's face. And then. . . .sadness, sympathy. They would discuss this later. Obi-Wan knew now that the Force had guided him to push Mayb away, but his feelings were still his own. And he was not happy with them.

Devano and Yudi only looked surprised, though the younger Knight also seemed amused.

Devano slapped the table again.

"Hah!" He pointed a stubby finger at Obi-Wan. "You've got instincts like your Master. If you had taken her offer, you would have been caught with your pants down. They were getting ready for their ambush right then. The Force is with you." Obi-Wan blushed.

"Would you have taken her offer?" Yudi wondered, looking down at the small man next to her.

Devano shrugged. "I suppose I might. And you wouldn't have?" he challenged.

"Since I have only seen her angry and screaming, I can't say that I would find her very appealing," Yudi said with disdain. "We are not all excited by shrieking and sweating and struggling." She leaned down toward Devano for emphasis.

"Oh really?" He looked unimpressed. "What about you and Master Poof?

"Master Poof does not scream," Yudi said with satisfaction.

Obi-Wan had heard more than he wanted to know when Yudi got to 'shrieking and sweating'. Clearly these two knew each other well enough to be acquainted with their sexual habits. And the conversation continued. Obi-Wan's eyes widened at Yudi's casual mention of the size of Devano's anatomy. The size and species differential between the two made them an unlikely couple and as their conversation continued Obi-Wan learned that the significant activities had required the assistance of at least one other person.

Opposite him at the table, Qui-Gon looked on with mildly bored interest.

"Well, I am familiar with Ayta Magah," Qui-Gon answered Devano's inquiry about mutual partners. "But it has been a few years," he said wistfully. But he offered no other details. With not at trace of discomfort he picked out a puffy appetizer and began munching while Yudi pointed out some difficulties that she had encountered in interspecies couplings.

Obi-Wan looked at his Master's tranquility with undisguised envy. That was what he strove for, a quietude of mind that even the most primal instincts could not disturb. What did he need to achieve it? Discipline? Experience? Or was it just age? He supposed that this was one thing that separated the Masters from the Padawans. He had foolishly thought that he had reached this goal, but just a brief cuddle from Mayb shattered that illusion. Now he was caught between embarrassment and indecision.

A light came on to his left and he turned his head to look, hoping for something that would turn the conversation away from the current topic. After a moment's puzzling over the activity by a raised platform at the far end of the room, Obi-Wan realized that it was exactly what he needed.

"Well, I think you're supposed to put the oil on first - - " Devano was saying.

"Ah, Master Devano?" Obi-Wan interrupted.

The older man looked at him curiously. "Yes?"

"Can you sing?"

Everyone else at the table stared at him, but Obi-Wan just pointed.

A technician with a pointy-toothed grin checked the height of a hovering voice enhancer. A few more patrons had wandered into Mimi's and they clustered at open tables around the platform that was rapidly being transformed into a stage with lights and a sparkly curtain for the evening entertainment. A tune droid, as garish and top-heavy as anything that had ever serviced the night-life on Coruscant trundled up to the technician and blatted out test bursts of recorded music. Whirling wheels and cylinders spun in time with the varying beats. Light patterns zoomed around strings of lights all over the droid's body and it honked out a few multi-toned 'whooo-whooo-whooooooooooo!' The nearby patrons perked up, clearly ready to display their vocal talents.

Even Qui-Gon looked alarmed.

They hastily left.

**- - - End Part 10**


	11. Chapter 11

**OPTIONS**

by ardavenport

**- - - Part 11**

"The mark will be completely gone by tomorrow," the white droid told Mayb, removing the last bacta patch from her bruises. This one from her elbow. The smudge of darker color left behind made her immediately want to wash it off, but she would have to wait for it to finish healing.

After the Grand Muzat's med droid collected its tools and excused itself Mayb was able to turn her chair back to the mirror to see how the hotel grooming droid was doing with her hair. She smiled at the results. Her golden hair looked nearly perfect again.

"I believe all the damaged strands have been repaired or trimmed and it has been properly moisturized. I will begin styling it now," the droid announced, ZZ8 or ZT9 or something like that.

"Of course," Mayb agreed and the droid began gathering up tresses.

Mak was taking her out to a nightclub later that night. Thankfully she had a good enough evening outfit with her. But she would need to go shopping tomorrow.

"Are you done with the droid Mayb?" Mak asked, coming out of the fresher. "I think I need a trim before dinner." He patted his neat mustache.

"It's just doing my hair. It'll be done in a little while."

Mak grunted and went to the wardrobe for a fresh suit.

Unfortunately they were having dinner with Mak's lawyer cousin. Mak said they couldn't avoid it since Zi-Zom was close friends with his Mum. He would never hear the end of it if they did not placate her. And they were going to meet Mak's Mum and Da tomorrow. They would have to arrange for a suitable meeting with her parents and sis and step-brother and cousin. The meeting with he family would have to wait for them to arrange the trip off world.

_Family. Now that's the proper way to open a marriage negotiation. I don't know what I could have been thinking with Qui-Gon._

She shuddered, now embarrassed by her appalling lack of judgement. Certainly other girls fantasized about older men, but she had taken it too far. She supposed it was just part of the bad judgement of youth, but Mayb really had expected that she was well past the impetuous faze of her life. The droid has finished gathering up all her hair and was winding the glittering wire around it to serve as the base for her evening headdress.

"I don't think the contract penalties are enough for all that happened. I want to sue," she said while she applied a little cream to her cheeks, nice and smooth.

"Can't."

Mayb scrunched up her face in displeasure and then hastily smoothed her features, but Mak was busy with the closures on his over-tunic. He was not looking.

"I wanted to sue," he said, standing and adjusting his collar, "the minute I heard who took your option, but Zi-Zom said you can't sue a Jedi. The courts won't take it. They have immunity. To everything apparently. And Zi-Zon is a hissing screech when it comes to getting her way with the law. Loves sinking her fangs into a tough case. If she says it can't be done, then it can't be done."

He came over to the dressing table and stood behind her, an admiring look on his face in the reflection, while the silver and white hotel droid, the blue and purple seal of the Grand Muzat large on its body, settled the headdress on her head and began attaching it.

"We're getting along so well. I wonder if this marriage contract thing is really necessary?" he speculated.

Mayb made a pouty face. "Well, I suppose we could talk about that with your Mum and Da tomorrow," she speculated. He grimaced and Mayb pretended to not notice how much her comment might sting. Mak had told her about his. . . .earlier troubled matches, but Mayb thought that he was only telling her because his family had pressured him into it. Mak Edoma was not perfect; Mayb could see that. He was hopelessly vain for one thing. But after Qui-Gon. . . .

. . . .Mayb thought that Mak Edoma had excellent possibilities.

"What were you doing with those three from the school?" she asked as she observed the droid's work, weaving her hair into the headpiece. She only felt slight tugs on her head. It had good programming; not once had it even pulled out single a hair.

"They came to me. A little frantic. A little crazy. Going on about how you were in danger. I was going to throw them out, but then I got the call from Zi-Zom, so I brought them with me to sort it out."

Mayb shrugged, already having lost interest in her former schoolmates.

"Hmm." Mak looked down at the dressing table. He leaned over Mayb to pick up the turquoise silveroid ring that Qui-Gon had given her. She had not had time to get rid of it.

"That's nice. Very nice," Mak said approvingly. "It looks local."

"Oh, I. . . .picked it up earlier today." Mayb admitted casually.

Mak held it up to her face. "Matches your eyes. Perfect."

It wasn't clear whether his last comment was about the ring. Mayb liked that; her lips curled in a smile. She held up her hand and he put the ring on her middle finger.

"Yes. It is," she agreed.

**=== oO%*%Oo ==%%%== oO%*%Oo ===**

The sun was just coming up. The fierce orange light of the local star, filtered through the atmosphere, peeked out of the haze in the distance over the plain between distant plateaus. Almost immediately the sliver of light became too bright to look at as it grew larger and Qui-Gon closed his eyes. He felt the faint, incremental warming of his skin, chilled in the crisp morning air.

Next to him on the viewing platform above the treetops of the Jolumtri Plateau Gardens, Obi-Wan inhaled deeply. His Padawan had been patient and Qui-Gon was pleased. They had not spoken alone of Mayb and her offer of sex with him yet. The Jedi Master felt no anticipation, no tension in the young man next to him. Qui-Gon smiled; Obi-Wan was learning.

After leaving Mimi's Lounge, they had settled the costs of the damage to the Grand Muzat, and to the manager's relief they had removed themselves to another (and less grand) hostel near the spaceport. Yudi and Devano left the planet that evening, however Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan would remain either until Sedda Hed and her companions contacted them, or until the contact com expired in three days. Their only other remaining task on that world was to fulfil an appointment that afternoon at Zi-Zom Edoma's office so Qui-Gon could sign over his rights to the marriage option. Mayb had already sent a message, through her lawyer, that she would not be present and that she expected to never meet them again in her lifetime. They all found this very satisfactory.

Feeling full sunlight on his face, Qui-Gon opened his eyes and had to avert them from the fiery disk, risen just above the horizon.

"You are concerned about your reaction to Mayb's advance yesterday," Qui-Gon stated without preamble. He looked down below their platform at the gardens still in shadow.

"Yes Master."

In his side vision, Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan lower his head, his shoulders slumping. He turned, and they both slid around to face each other, sitting on the smooth decking of the platform.

"Do you believe that it was the Force that guided you to push Mayb away?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Yes." Obi-Wan nodded, his pale gray-blue eyes earnest in the golden light from the sunrise. Then he pressed his lips together and lowered his eyes. "But I panicked."

"How?"

"I pushed her away, with the Force." Obi-Wan held his hand up, his palm spread toward Qui-Gon. "But when I tried to close the door." He swept his hand to the side. "Nothing happened. I had to use the manual control to lock it. To lock her in. Away from me." He lowered his eyes.

"Oh."

There was no surer sign of internal discord than when a Jedi tried to access the Force and didn't. Qui-Gon sighed. Something like that had not happened to him in many years. It often happened to younglings, still growing and easily distracted. But it was uncommon for a Padawan Obi-Wan's age.

"I was focused on my failure to follow your advice to suppress my desire for Mayb." Obi-Wan looked up, his expression shamed. "I thought I had succeeded, but when Mayb approached me I. . . .felt like I had no control at all."

Qui-Gon sighed again and glanced up at the brightening morning sky above. There were no clouds.

"Did you enjoy it?"

Obi-Wan stared back in surprise.

"When Mayb approached you, did you enjoy it?" Qui-Gon repeated, smiling. "I assume there was some significant physical contact."

"Yes there was," he answered unhappily. "And, yes, very much. I enjoyed it."

"Yet you were still worried about failing my guidance, even then?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes. You did tell me to follow my feelings, but I did not think you meant for me to lose myself in them. And I was shocked by how badly I had deceived myself that I was in control of it."

Qui-Gon sadly shook his head.

"Obi-Wan, I only told you to suppress your desire for Mayb to give you something to do, since were so determined to think your way out of it. You do know now that you cannot think your way out of this?"

His apprentice nodded.

"Do you still harbor a desire for Mayb."

His apprentice shook his head.

"No. I believe that energy is. . . spent." Obi-Wan sighed now. "And I still do not know why ever had it."

"Do you wish to know why?"

"There is no why Master," Obi-Wan answered with a sad smile. "It simply is. Or was." Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "Or will be."

Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows at this unexpected wisdom, but before he could ask for more, Obi-Wan asked him something.

"Was it this difficult for you, Qui-Gon? When you were my age?"

"No." He folded his arms before him. "For events like these, I never even thought to ask myself the questions you put to yourself. I would simply act."

"You still do," Obi-Wan said with a sly grin. Qui-Gon did not care for being interrupted, but the statement was undeniably true, and their whole mission with Mayb was one result.

"Sometimes there would be consequences, sometimes not," Qui-Gon went on. "If there is one thing I have tried to teach you, Obi-Wan, it is to focus on the moment. If you get tangled up in the distractions of the possibilities of what might have or have not happened then you lose your focus. But there are moments when losing focus is the moment itself. You recognized that, and retreated from it."

"Is that bad?"

"No," Qui-Gon reassured him. "You said that you had deceived yourself into believing that you could control your moment of desire. But you recognized it immediately. That is who you are, Obi-Wan.

"However, I," he continued, loosening his arms and then lowering his hands to rest them on his knees, "deceived myself for years thinking that the Force stayed with me during pleasure and passion. There were no attachments; they would be gone as soon as they were spent. But there was no control at those times. It took me years to truly learn what you know by instinct, Obi-Wan," he admitted.

Obi-Wan looked surprised. And then thoughtful.

"I still feel as if I have missed something. And that the opportunity will not return. Or if it does, I will not take it."

"No," Qui-Gon agreed. "That seems unlikely."

Silence claimed them. With the increasing light, the tame creatures of the garden squawked and twittered their morning routines. Qui-Gon felt that there was more to discuss, but not yet. Obi-Wan's revelation was too new and his own experiences unexamined for too long. He smiled; they would discuss the details later.

Qui-Gon straightened, lifting his head and drawing the Force to him. In the end all Jedi found themselves choosing between the transitory pleasures of living and the essence and energy of life itself.

Obi-Wan perked up, sensing the gathering Force around his Master.

Qui-Gon breathed deeply. The crisp, refreshing air filled him. He leapt to his feet. A slight breeze pushed his robe and long hair back. Obi-Wan followed.

"Shall we visit the rest of the garden?" He invited, gesturing to the paths far below. Obi-Wan grinned.

They jumped off the platform together.

**=== oO%*%Oo = END = oO%*%Oo ===**

(This story was first posted on tf.n 1-Aug-2007)

**Disclaimer:** All characters and situations belong to George and Lucasfilm; I'm just playing in their sandbox.


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